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Google Businesses

Google is Buying a New York City Office Building for $2.1 Billion (protocol.com) 68

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
Google is buying a new office building on Manhattan's West Side for $2.1 billion, the most expensive sale of a U.S. office building since the pandemic started. From a report: The tech giant is already leasing a 1.3 million-square-foot building in Hudson Yards, also on the West Side, which it has an option to buy. New York City is the company's second largest office location. The move highlights a long-term push for a return to office work, even as companies across the industry delay their reopenings due to the delta variant.
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Google is Buying a New York City Office Building for $2.1 Billion More

Google is Buying a New York City Office Building for $2.1 Billion

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  • Optimistic (Score:3, Interesting)

    by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Tuesday September 21, 2021 @09:07AM (#61817059) Homepage Journal

    They are being very optimistic if they think they can get good people to go work in some downtown skyscraper.

    • No kidding. My parents live in the Philadelphia suburbs about 2 hours away from Manhattan on a good day, and they tell me the housing prices and new construction of single family homes are on fire from all the people "fleeing" NYC.

      Ain't nobody crammin' themselves into commuter trains or subway cars or elevators to get to a job in New York (or any major urban center) any time soon.

      Sorry libs. Urban living has lost its shine for a whole new generation. Try again in another 30 or 40 years when the next crop of

      • You might see a slight slowdown in NYC, but not everyone wants to live in burbhell Filthydelphia.

        • Not everyone wants to live in burbhell but most people do. Nearly every big city's population is dwarfed by the population of its suburbs. And when you realize that most city limits include pretty big suburban zones, the numbers get decidedly less sunny for the urban lifestyle.

          Density has taken a hit. Get used to more people driving alone folks.

          • Time to tax stinkenwagen cars to the point that only the rich can afford a new one.

            • Taxing necessities out of affordability is not possible in a democratic system.

              • That's why we need an EU-style technocracy. Rule of the rabble is over-rated.
              • Sure it is. In a demoncratic system, whoever can best influence the masses wins. And I'd argue that things like property taxes, minimum wages, subsidies for urban/suburban sprawl, and a host of other measures that supposedly promote "equity" do the exact opposite, by pricing housing, transportation, and countless other things right into non-affordability.

              • Once the majority have EVs, there will be much less political resistance to higher gas taxes.

                Keep that in mind when you buy your next car.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by jbengt ( 874751 )

            Nearly every big city's population is dwarfed by the population of its suburbs.

            Citation needed.
            For example, the population of the city of Chicago is only 1/3 of the population of the Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area, but the statistical metropolitan area outside of Chicago is not all suburbs. It includes several cities of their own, like Waukegan, Aurora, Naperville, Elgin, Joliet, Gary Indiana, Kenosha Wisconsin, etc.

            • Not sure about "nearly all," but certainly some.

              The Cleveland, Ohio area contains a few million people, but only fewer than 400,000 inside city limits. Most of the suburbs, except for a few of the innermost, do have a distinctly suburban or exurban character, even though many were separate towns or villages in the past.

              This is a common pattern throughout the "Rust Belt" where central cities suffered major job losses, urban blight, and depopulation due to decades of insufficient economic growth. The region

          • Comment removed based on user account deletion

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by jabuzz ( 182671 )

              I would say it is more having some "personal" green space as to why people want to live in the suburbs. If you have kids this tends to become an even higher priority. As I said to my neighbour during lockdown here in the UK last year who commented over the fence we are lucky to have garden's, that well I deliberately choose to buy a house with a garden, knowing people who choose to buy a flat, apartment etc. Noting of course not everyone is able to afford a house with a garden but many people choose somethi

          • Not everyone wants to live in burbhell but most people do. Nearly every big city's population is dwarfed by the population of its suburbs.

            In many cities, housing is much more expensive in the dense core than in "burbhell". Indicating that there is unmet demand for housing in the core (which cannot be met because of zoning laws), and more people would prefer to live in the core than actually do.

            What the actual percentage preferring urban vs suburban living is, who knows - though I would guess most young adults prefer urban, most families with kids prefer suburban, and for retired people it depends heavily on class (upper classes tend to like u

      • Re: Optimistic (Score:5, Informative)

        by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) on Tuesday September 21, 2021 @10:28AM (#61817281)

        So many people fled NYC that they added 629,000 people in the last 10 years.

        https://apnews.com/article/new... [apnews.com]

        That is not to say NYC or most major cities don't have their share of housing issues but there will always be people looking to live in a top 10 worldwide urban center. It can simply offer things that most parts of the country cannot. As someone who grew up in NYC and now lives in a rather suburban state close to waht I would call a "secondary city" there is definite appeal to "crammin in commuter trains" as opposed to having to drive to almost literally everything. It's not for everyone but neither is suburban or rural living and the fact of the matter is the majority of money and GDP in America flows from these urban centers.

        The younger generations are more concerned with the fact that they cannot in fact afford to live in these places than they are abandoning the idea of living in them. Of course they will have to grapple with the fact that living int hese places is a luxury and not a right. The smaller towns and cities need to improve their infrastructure and quality of life to attract the labor and business base to compete.

        • Fun fact: I filled out my census form right before the lockdowns started last year.

          • Sure, but do you really think over a half million people left NYC because of the lockdowns, NYC which is in fact not locked down currently and doing actually quite well. Anectdotal but I spent a week there in July and the place was bustling.

            Just about every major city grew in the 2020 census. Chicago 2%, LA 3%, SF 9%, Houston 10%, Phoenix 16%. The issue is not folks abandoning these places but too many in fact want to live there for work or otherwise.

            I myself am not opposed to spreading the growth out mo

            • https://www.reuters.com/articl... [reuters.com]

              I don't think the numbers have stabilized. With population sloshes measured in the millions, using 2020 census data to quote the growth through the 2010s is questionable and the sky high prices for single family homes in the northeast simply tell me that a large enough portion of people to notice are done with urban living.

              Let's review in 5 or 10 years once the dust settles.

              • How are the prices in the city changing? Here it is just getting more expensive everywhere. Although large family homes are increasing the most in price.
                I think people generally get more flat space, because they are at home more. But that will also bring a decrease of density in the cities

            • Sure, but do you really think over a half million people left NYC because of the lockdowns,

              I think it's more than half a million. I know a number of them personally (they mostly went to Florida, where you can actually live).

              Good luck Google attracting people to work there...

              • As someone living in Florida I would say the people in NYC are living as much, if not better than we are...

                SInce Google is buying the building they are already using I don't imagine they are having staffing problems or else why would they plunk down $2.1B to purchase it when they could just drop the lease and leave?

    • Re:Optimistic (Score:5, Insightful)

      by timeOday ( 582209 ) on Tuesday September 21, 2021 @10:06AM (#61817191)
      Check back in a decade, I bet they've made a killing buying office space at the height of work-from-home.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      If everyone thinks the same, the price will be lower and they can get a good deal on the building. Zig when everyone else is zagging. Even if they don't have their employees there, they can rent it out to other businesses when things return to normal.

    • Having descended 48 flights of stairs to get out of such a building during an earthquake, I lost enthusiasm for working in one. My office mate sprinted out and was AWOL for 2 days. Recent articles use FLIR to show the urban heat island effect. This became duh obvious to me by 1977, working in such a building on weekends. Air conditioning was curtailed in the office areas, but kept on in the 24/7 machine rooms. The building became a giant sauna. It was also a reasonably good viewing platform for a coup

  • I hope it's not trump tower... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    The last thing anyone should give that fool and his family is more money...

  • Correction (Score:5, Informative)

    by rbrome ( 175029 ) on Tuesday September 21, 2021 @09:24AM (#61817103) Homepage

    Google's NYC campus is in Hudson Square, not Hudson Yards. Google is not "already leasing a 1.3 million-square-foot building in Hudson Yards". Google's 1.3 million-square-foot building in NYC is the new (well, reconstructed) one that they were going to lease, but now buying, in Hudson Square.

  • Seems like Google could be taking advantage of states that are a bit more friendly to businesses.
    Why would they subject themselves to higher tax rates just to be in New York?

    What am I missing?

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      Bluntly put, it's because the people they are hire are educated and don't want to live around evangelical troglodytes.

      • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

        by dark.nebulae ( 3950923 )

        Actually we need those educated folks to get out and live amongst the evangelical troglodytes.

        Too many places in this country are bright red because there is no effective progressive representation, so there is little chance of turning those areas purple.

        Concentrating the educated into blue bastion cities is the worst thing we can do.

        Besides, it is typically cheaper living with the troglodytes. You won't find a good bubble tea within 100 miles, but tastes have been expanding and you can often find a decent

        • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

          by Tablizer ( 95088 )

          Okay, you volunteer to be a "missionary" there. I grew up in an evangelical family. Sorry, but they are conspiratorial racist zealots. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

      • Correction: "because the people they hire are educated..."

        Anyone know of browser pluggins that detect such typos typos?

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by nazzdeq ( 654790 )
        You aren't that smart if you want to live in NYC.

    • Re:Why New York? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by UnknowingFool ( 672806 ) on Tuesday September 21, 2021 @10:16AM (#61817231)
      1) How do you know that the building is not just a real estate investment for Google? 2) Google is already in New York state as the summary says. They are not moving into New York for the first time so your point about New York state not being "business friendly" is moot. 3) I am pretty Google had their people crunch the numbers on taxes before spending $2.1B.

    • They have to spend their stimulus money to get more. They don't have to care where it goes, it just has to move around

    • Seems like Google could be taking advantage of states that are a bit more friendly to businesses. Why would they subject themselves to higher tax rates just to be in New York?

      What am I missing?

      There's more jobs than qualified candidates, so the employers who believe hiring top talent is important to their bottom line do what they can to attract talent. Trust me, if the labor pool quadrupled in size and got 4x better, they'd relocate to cheaper places, stop offering free meals, and have perks more in line with a typical business.

      Also, consider that their talent pool is often international. If you were offered a job overseas, would you want to live in Berlin? Amsterdam?...or some rural villag

    • What am I missing?

      Big cities with world-class universities are the only place you can find several thousand top-notch people to work together.

      This building is within walking distance of NYU and a 20-minute commute from Columbia.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by couchslug ( 175151 )

      You're missing that flyover country is racist, pro-COVID, bigoted against anyone who isn't a white bible thumper, viciously education-averse and moving to the right of Donald Trump such that he was booed for endorsing vaccination.

      For people with enough money the metro area is terrific. If you aren't rich then do not try to live there. (I left.) There are some stunningly nice wealthy hoods in north Jersey and downstate New York where Google money could buy a very nice life.

  • Obviously. We know these days that Google is not really interested in anything but pushing ads.

  • Is that outside the western world if you mouth off to power you go to the gulag, get two in the back of the head, or simply disappear. In Russia throw in polonium tea.

  • Google should buy Evergrande :)

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