VentureBeat

Instead of almost accidentally bicycling over Facebook employees whenever I go to downtown Palo Alto, now I’ll get to do that a mile and a half further south in the city. The company is moving most of its offices to the former HP office building near California Avenue, The Palo Alto Daily reports. California Avenue is Palo Alto’s second, slightly less pretentious downtown; the Facebook office is located down the street from it, right along my favorite urban bike path.

The weird thing is, I heard Google was buying this former Hewlett-Packard building a couple years back. Since then, I’ve been casually watching as I bike past, waiting for the Google sign to go up (spy telescope stowed conveniently in my backpack).

Meanwhile, Facebook has been gradually taking over the University Ave. business district, as many local restaurant and bar owners will happily tell you. But things were getting cramped, with the still-growing headcount at the company seemingly seeping into every available nook and cranny of an office in the area. Facebook says it plans to keep some employees in Palo Alto, and adds that now other companies can move in to its old spaces and help out downtown business owners.

Now, Facebook is trying to watch costs, bring more of its workers together in one building — and it’s aiming to reach 1,000 employees by the end of the year, according to the article. The new location is a pretty good pick. The building is big and has lots of parking. It’s close to the Caltrain stop, and a few fancy restaurants, but also cheap food and — best of all — a classic dive bar called The Nuthouse.

So, mean bartender at The Nuthouse, prepare for the Facebook invasion.

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