subject: Google searches and finds a new home in Manhattan [print this page] Google searches and finds a new home in Manhattan
Google has signed a contract to buy a prestigious, 18- story, 2.9-million sq.ft. building at New York's 111 Eighth Avenue, the same building that houses its New York City Offices, with a price tag of $1.9 billion. This deal makes for the largest real estate deal for a single building in the U.S. this year.
The building covers an entire city block, between 15th and 16th Streets from Eighth to Ninth Avenues, and is located in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. It once housed the headquarters of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and it's currently home to Google's 550,000 sq. ft. office, as well as data center operations for companies such as Telx, according to an article on Mashable.
Popular tenants of the building include Nike, Lifetime cable channel, and WebMD. Nearly one-third of the occupants are telecommunication companies.
The deal has not been closed yet, but it will probably go through as Google has made a large down payment of more than $33 million in cash on its balance sheet, say sources familiar with the matter. Sources are also saying that Google won the bid partly because it knew the building so well and was willing to close the deal by the end of the year.
The seller of the property is a group that includes the New York State Common Retirement Fund, real estate Investment Company Jamestown, and Taconic Investment Partners LLC. At a value of $1.9 billion, the building at 111 Eighth Avenue is expected to product an initial yield of about 5 percent, according to sources.
For more information about the building, visit our sister site, Construction Digital.
