Google announces $1 billion Hudson Square Campus in New York City

Google has confirmed major expansion plans for New York City, gearing up to invest more than $1 billion as part of a broader plan that could double its head count in the Big Apple over the next decade.

The Alphabet subsidiary said it has signed lease agreements at 315 and 345 Hudson Street in Lower Manhattan, in addition to a letter of intent to take over a nearby property at 550 Washington Street.

Google already inhabits 111 Eighth Avenue, having bought the Chelsea Art Deco building in 2010 for a reported $1.8 billion, though it first moved to the city way back in 2000. Earlier this year, Google also announced that it had bought New York’s Chelsea Market for $2.4 billion, with plans to expand into another four-block campus at Pier 57.

Google Hudson Square

The new hub, to be called Google Hudson Square, will serve as home for Google’s New York Global Business Organization. Together with the Chelsea Market expansion, it will allow Google to grow its existing 7,000-person footprint in New York City to more than 14,000.

Today’s announcement also comes on the heels of rival Amazon’s decision to split a new secondary HQ between New York City and a Washington, D.C. suburb, though that move isn’t without its local critics. And Apple last week revealed plans for a new $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas.

It’s clear the big technology companies are looking to spread their wings beyond their domestic hubs on the West Coast, in part because it opens them up to a wider hiring pool — after all, not everyone wants to move to California or Seattle.

“New York City continues to be a great source of diverse, world-class talent — that’s what brought Google to the city in 2000, and that’s what keeps us here,” said Ruth Porat, SVP and CFO of Google and Alphabet, in a blog post.

Porat added that the company is now growing faster outside the Bay Area than it is within it.

Google said its new 1.7 million-square-foot campus should open in 2020, kicking off with the two Hudson Street addresses, followed by Washington Street two years later.