Do you want to live in a home owned by your boss?

Over the years, with the increases in influence and capital, the world has watched as corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Meta have jumped from the Internet into businesses such as television, mobile phones, supermarkets, and the automotive industry. But there's a new frontier for one of these corporate giants.

It seems the next step that big technology companies want to take is getting into the real estate market. Yes, in a few years, there may be someone who pays their rent or monthly mortgage bill to Alexa or Siri.

The presence of big technology companies in areas like Seattle and, above all, Silicon Valley, has skyrocketed housing prices. Rents in some places exceed $3,000 on average, a figure previously reported by 'The Wall Street Journal'.

The high price of housing, added to the scarce real estate stock, has led Meta, Amazon, and Google to take measures into their own hands to solve the problem: build their very own corporate cities that are affordable and suitable not only for their employees but also for other people who do not work for the companies.

One of the first companies to take this route has been Google with its North Bayshore project that has been underway for almost a decade. Google is building a futuristic campus in Mountain View, in the heart of Silicon Valley, with up to 7,000 homes, as well as parks, shops, leisure areas, and, of course, offices. Many offices.

Photo Credit: Google Real Estate

Added to the North Bayshore project is Middlefield Park, which will complement North Bayshore by converting several office buildings into nearly 2,000 new homes, as well as better-utilize commercial areas and offices. Soe might call this the start of a sort of 'Googletown'.

Photo Credit: Google Real Estate

In the case of Meta, the objective is to build a total of 20,000 homes in Silicon Valley, with an investment of one billion dollars, until 2030. To achieve this, the company reached an agreement with the California Administration, for the transfer of land at a good price ($250 million), according to 'The New York Times'.

And what about Apple? Well, a few years ago the deep-pocketed tech company invested 2.5 billion to create an investment fund that would build 20,000 homes in San Francisco Bay, and they are still working on it.

Obviously, other large companies such as Disney, Microsoft, or Tesla, with its renowned 'Snailbrook' project, the utopian city, have also joined this urban planning initiative aimed to facilitate access to housing for their employees but also for citizens who decide to live in the area.

Interestingly, this concept of corporate-owned cities is neither new, nor groundbreaking, nor a revolution in housing. Company cities have been around since the Industrial Revolution, and like everything, they have their pros and cons.

Obviously, building a business city in the 21st century is not the same as in the 19th century, or having that project carried out by Google rather than having Ford do it. But hopefully, it doesn't backfire on the employees and people who choose to live in these corporate cities and rea estate projects.