A new report from the Wall Street Journal suggests that Google has almost struck a deal in order to buy or lease 1.3 million-square-feet of office space at St. John’s Terminal in West Village, New York. Additionally, sources have said that the firm plans to expand its Chelsea Market property by 300,000 square feet; respectively each site could accommodate 8,500 and 2,000 new workers based on the industry standard of 150 square feet per employee.
Neither Google nor the St. John’s Terminal owner, Oxford Properties Group commented on the possible deal. The search giant previously announced an expansion of a third New York office at Pier 57. A spokesperson said this would include a community space, a winter garden, and a public water taxi landing. It’s unclear how much of the expansion will be assigned to new offices at that site.
While Silicon Valley is the primary location of a lot of tech firms, they are expanding their presence across the U.S. at an increasing rate. Just this week, Amazon was reported to be bringing its second headquarters to Crystal City, Virginia, a second report then claimed that the headquarters would be split between Virginia and another location which is yet to be decided but could be in Dallas, Long Island City in New York, or Arlington.
Google currently has 240 job listings for New York but as the firm buys up and leases properties, insiders say that Google could potentially hire many thousands more employees, a big boost for the city. The firm expects to have the St. John"s Terminal office completed by 2022.
Source: Wall Street Journal (Paywall)