Google Looks Beyond Headquarters in Pending 10th Avenue Deal
By Al Barbarino October 2, 2013 8:00 am
reprintsGoogle (GOOGL) is on the verge of signing a 360,000 square-foot lease at Related Companies’ 85 10th Avenue in what may be a result of unsuccessful attempts to expand further into its 111 Eighth Avenue headquarters.
The New York Post, which first reported the pending deal, called the negotiations at the 540,000-square-foot, 10th Avenue building “hush-hush,” but the company’s struggles to land additional space at their own building are at this point well-publicized.
Google reportedly attempted to buyout tenants with existing leases at its massive Chelsea headquarters, which the Internet behemoth paid a whopping $2 billion for at the start of 2011, but existing leases – and built-in lease extensions – made that difficult, if not impossible.
In June of last year, The Commercial Observer summed up Nike’s response to a Google buyout attempt for the sports apparel giant’s 100,000-square-foot digs at 111 Eighth Avenue with the words, “Just Drop Dead.”
Google declined the advice. And despite recent antitrust skirmishes, the latest of which could be nearing an end, Google stock continues to soar, with investors enjoying a 24 percent improvement in stock price so far this year, partially attributed to its dominance on the advertising front.
In the world of real estate, the firm is clamping down on new office space, from Sunnyvale, California to Waterloo, Ontario, as its New York City footprint and presence continues to grow, seemingly unabated.
In March, the company signed a deal to expand its presence at Chelsea Market by approximately 90,000 square feet, and, in August, Google-owned YouTube announced plans to open a 25,000-square-foot creative studio in at 22 West 21st Street in Chelsea in October 2014.
No word yet on who, or what, the new space will accommodate.
