Google Announces $1B Hudson Square Campus
By Rebecca Baird-Remba December 17, 2018 12:53 pm
reprints![](https://commercialobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/01/315-hudson-aerial-hero.jpg?quality=80&w=750)
Google (GOOGL) is creating a new $1 billion campus across three buildings in Hudson Square, the company announced today in a blog post.
The tech giant will house its sales division, called the “global business organization,” in the 1.7-million-square-foot complex, which will span three prewar buildings near the West Side Highway and the Holland Tunnel. The company has leased large blocks of space at 315 Hudson Street and 345 Hudson Street and signed a letter of intent at the soon-to-be-redeveloped St. John’s Terminal at 550 Washington Street. It hopes to move into the Hudson Street buildings by 2020 and into St. John’s Terminal in 2022.
The expansion comes as Google signalled its intent to double its New York City workforce to more than 14,000 employees over the next decade, The Wall Street Journal reported last month.
“When we came to New York City almost two decades ago, it was our first office outside of California,” Google CFO Ruth Porat said in the announcement. “It’s now home to more than 7,000 employees, speaking 50 languages, working on a broad range of teams including search, ads, Maps, YouTube, cloud, technical infrastructure, sales, partnerships and research.”
At 315 Hudson Street, the company inked a deal for 280,000 square feet across the entirety of floors six through 10, as well as portions of the fifth floor, landlord Jack Resnick & Sons noted in a press release. Its offices will include a rooftop garden, indoor and outdoor event spaces, a cafe, a dedicated lobby and a bike storage room on the lower level.
In the second lease, the tech firm headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., inked a 180,000 square foot deal commencing in 2019 at 345 Hudson Street, owner Trinity Hudson Holdings said in a press release. The transaction brings the 980,000-square-foot building to 100 percent lease. The building is owned by a joint venture of Hines, Norges Bank Real Estate Management and Trinity Real Estate.
“Google joins the notable roster of global creative brands that have moved to Hudson Square, and we are very proud that they have chosen 345 Hudson for their new office space,” Tommy Craig, the head of Hines’ tri-state office, said in prepared remarks.
Oxford Properties, the owner of 550 Washington Street, wouldn’t comment on Google’s plans at the 1.3-million-square-foot building, which is being dramatically expanded and revamped from a warehouse into an office property.
Kevin Egan, the head of Oxford’s New York office, said in a statement that the firm is “thrilled Google shares our vision for St. John’s Terminal as a strategic location for their growing presence in New York and we look forward to working together with Google as we develop this world-class property.”
Earlier this year, Google bought the Chelsea Market building at 75 Ninth Avenue from Jamestown for $2.4 billion. The purchase supplements its longtime headquarters across the street at 111 Eighth Avenue, which it picked up for $1.9 billion in 2010, after four years as a tenant. The $700 billion company also leased 70,000 square feet of additional office space at Pier 57 in February, after committing to 250,000 square feet there in 2015.
“We are thrilled to welcome Google to 315 Hudson Street,” said Jonathan Resnick, the president of Jack Resnick & Sons, in a statement. “We’ve been hard at work transitioning our buildings to serve the needs of today’s most innovative companies who are looking for large, highly-collaborative spaces located within the city’s most vibrant live-work communities.”
Google was represented by Ken Rapp, David Hollander, Doug Lehman and Brendan Herlihy of CBRE in both deals. For the 315 Hudson transaction, Jack Resnick & Sons’ Brett Greenberg and Adam Rappaport represented building ownership in-house, along with a Newmark Knight Frank team comprised of David Falk, Peter Shimkin, Jason Greenstein and Danny Levine. At 345 Hudson, Howard Fiddle, Paul Amrich, Zac Price and Ben Joseph of CBRE represented ownership. A spokeswoman for CBRE declined to comment on the transactions. Spokespeople for Newmark Knight Frank didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.