Google is acting on plans to call its employees back to offices in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. And it is planning to expand its office presence at some locations despite the company adopting the hybrid work model because of the coronavirus pandemic. One of such locations is New York City. The search engine giant is splashing out USD 2.1 billion to purchase an office building it has been leasing. Google is expected to buy a Manhattan property next year. The 1.3 million-square-foot former freight terminal is called St. John’s Terminal in Hudson Square. With the purchase of this deal, the company would have an entire campus area of around 1.7 million square feet in the area. This is because the company already owns two buildings next door. This deal is a clear indication that Google may not continue with it remote work policy for long. Google said that new property would be an ‘anchor’ of its sprawling city campus. Google’s office campus in New York has around 12,000 regional employees. The company’s second-largest workforce is in New York. Most importantly, Google has increased its footprint in the city in recent years. Google has cemented its position in the city with this deal. Reports suggest that the new office is scheduled to open in mid-2023.
Reports suggest that it is the most expensive sale of any one office building in the United States since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, it ranks as one of the priciest ever in the history of America. The tech giant said that the new building will be developed as a ‘highly sustainable, adaptable and connected building.’ Google is looking to employ more than 14,000 employees in the city. Google has adopted a hybrid work environment ever since the pandemic broke, but the company said that it has finalized the deal because in-person collaboration is going to be an essential part of the future. Commenting on the deal, Alphabet and Google Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat the company is deepening its commitment towards the city because it has world-class talent. “The city has some of the best talents in the world and the energy and creativity of New York city are unmatchable. And this is what has kept us rooted here. With plans to purchase St. John’s Terminal, we are working to make this connection even stronger,” said Porat.
The announcement to purchase the building in the heart of the city has been praised by several lawmakers, including outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio. “The decision to invest in the city is an enormous step that clearly hints towards our recovery,” Blasio said in a statement. Blasio said that the tech giant was attracted to the city because it has the most diverse population in the nation. Not only Google, but other major tech companies of the United States – including Facebook – have been making their presence stronger in the city. But Google is definitely leading the way. The expansion comes even as companies recently postponed their plans of calling all employees back to offices. Some of the big companies have postponed their return to office plans until 2022. Google too has decided not to call all employees to the office as of now. The decision was taken considering the rise in the number of new coronavirus cases, especially because of the more dangerous variant of Covid-19. These companies have given employees the option of work from remote locations. Despite this, several tech companies are expanding their offices. Social media giant Facebook too recently purchased a property in Washington. It purchased a previously unused corporate headquarters from REI. Amazon too has been reportedly planning to expand in New York’s Hudson Yards.
Paul is an American-based writer covering Latest business trends. Paul cover Business and media for many news sites. He has been breaking news and writing features on these topics for major publications since 2012. Paul prefers writing about business news keeping science and technology into perspective.