Google on Tuesday said it plans to buy a Manhattan office building for $2.1 billion, even as most of its employees work from home and hybrid working models become common.
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Located on Hudson River Waterfront, the tech giant will pay one of the largest prices for an office building in the past few years in the United States.
“New York’s vitality, creativity and world-class talent are what keep us rooted here,” CFO Ruth Porat said in a blog post.
The announcement comes at a time when firms have embraced remote work and given up office spaces. The move serves as a breather for New York real estate after firms postponed return to office including Google.
While Google already leases the building, the company said it would exercise the option to purchase The St. John’s Terminal site at 550 Washington Street which it expects to open by mid-2023. Google also plans to invest over $250 million this year in its New York campus presence and expand its workforce in the city from 12,000 employees to 14,000 in the coming years.
The building will serve as the New York headquarters for Google’s Global Business organisation which includes its sales and partnership teams.
The company noted that the St. John’s Terminal transaction will close in the first quarter of 2022.
Published - September 22, 2021 12:28 pm IST
