Two tech behemoths of Silicon Valley, Google and LinkedIn Corp., in spite of past rivalry over land in the area have just come to an agreement in which the companies will hand over property to the other. The land swap consists of 1 million square feet of sites already developed – including LinkedIn’s present headquarters – and a further 2.4 million square feet of land for future development.

The deal will see LinkedIn getting two sites in Mountain View, and one site in Sunnyvale, while Google will further strengthen its presence in Mountain View by taking four sites including the seven acres of Lester Industrial Park. The latter was where LinkedIn had planned to build Shoreline Commons.

In an interview Jim Morgensen, LinkedIn’s vice president for its Workplace platform, said, “We spent a lot of time and energy on Shoreline Commons, but it was complicated by one single fact: That it was going to take five to six years to build. And that’s a long time for a tech company to have multiple, split campuses.”

Likewise Google will benefit from the deal, relating to its vision of a futuristic HQ, consisting of a series of sprawling palatial glass buildings that wouldn’t look out of place in a fantasy film, surrounded by lawns, walkways and footbridges stretching across picturesque streams.

In a statement a representative from Google said, “Google and LinkedIn have come to an agreement that will have a direct, positive impact on the ongoing traffic challenges in Mountain View and is beneficial to both of our organizations as well. We’re excited to move forward with our respective development plans in our hometown.”

Google received a setback last year when its plans for the grand campus were thwarted by Mountain View’s city council. Google had applied for 2.3 million square feet to build its glass domes and that was met with a rebuff.

At the time Google VP of Real Estate David Radcliffe said, “I’m not sure how I can make any of this economically viable with just one building,” relating to the meager 515,000 square feet the company got. The same council at the same meeting awarded LinkedIn 1.4 million square feet. This may have caused some amount of ill will between the tech giants, though it seems now that the two have made up.

Photo credit: Google (North Bayshore campus proposal)