Google to Spend $1 Billion to Establish New Campus in New York City

Alphabet's Google said on Monday that it is investing over $1 billion (Rs. 7,156 crores) to establish a new campus in New York city, as it expands its presence in the city's technology corridor along the Hudson River.

The new leased campus, which is over 1.7 million square-foot, will be the primary location for Google's global business organization, the company said in a blog post.

The news comes on the heels of Amazon.com picking New York as its second headquarters.

Earlier in March, Google had announced a $2.4 billion purchase of the Manhattan Chelsea Market.

In the blog post, Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat wrote that it is leasing a large office building in Manhattan's West Village neighbourhood, the centrepiece of a campus more than 1.7 million square-feet large. The new campus should be operational starting in 2020.

The expansion would make the company one of the city's largest commercial tenants, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The company currently employs some 7,000 people in New York. Earlier in the year Alphabet said it was buying the Manhattan Chelsea Market for $2.4 billion, and planned to lease space at Pier 57.

"Today we're taking the next step in our commitment to our New York City presence by investing over $1 billion in capital improvements to establish a new campus, Google Hudson Square. The over 1.7 million square-foot campus is a result of lease agreements at 315 and 345 Hudson Street and a signed letter of intent at 550 Washington Street... We hope to start moving into the two Hudson Street buildings by 2020, followed by 550 Washington Street in 2022 once the building is complete. Google Hudson Square will be the primary location for our New York-based Global Business Organization," Porat wrote in the blog.

Porat also said that the company's 'Grow with Google' initiative will come to New York City with a temporary digital skills learning centre on the ground floor of its office on 8th Avenue in Chelsea.

"With these most recent investments in Google Chelsea and Google Hudson Square, we will have the capacity to more than double the number of Googlers in New York over the next 10 years. Our investment in New York is a huge part of our commitment to grow and invest in US facilities, offices and jobs. In fact, we're growing faster outside the Bay Area than within it, and this year opened new offices and data centres in locations like Detroit, Boulder, Los Angeles, Tennessee and Alabama," Porat concluded.

Written with agency inputs