Lendlease has chalked up the biggest urban construction deal in its history.

The Australian property giant has signed a $20 billion deal with Google to develop 1.4 million square metres of residential, retail, hospitality and community space across three neighbourhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Google will set up office space within the planned mixed communities in Jose, Sunnyvale and Mountain View.

The California project is the biggest in Lendlease’s 61-year history and work is expected to begin as early as 2021, pending planning approvals and development work.

“This joint agreement between Google and Lendlease will help address the need for new housing in the San Francisco Bay Area,” Lendlease Americas CEO Dennis Hickey said on Thursday.

“We are focused on delivering outstanding places that redefine how people choose to live, work, connect and contribute to creating an active community.”

The mixed-use communities projects will be developed during the next 10 to 15 years. Google’s vice-president of real estate and workplace services, David Radcliffe, said it would include at least 15,000 new houses.

“Today’s agreement expands on an existing and successful partnership that will help us deliver on two important objectives: our commitment to accelerate the production of residential units in the Bay Area, and our plan to build mixed-use developments,” he said.

Lendlease is currently building Google’s new British headquarters in London, which will eventually accommodate 4000 staff. Construction is due to be finished in 2021.

-with AAP