subject: Google Buys Old Port Authority, Nyc Fiber Hub For $1.9 Billion [print this page] Thats right, I said billionThats right, I said billion. Google Acer as07b52 Battery has actually been the largest tenant at the the old Port Authority building on 111 Eighth Avenue on the citys West Side for some time now (they began leasing space in 2006), but closed a deal Wednesday to purchase the 3 million square foot building. While the $1.9 billion purchase price is hardly a steal, Google is most likely more interested in the fiber sitting under the building as it is in the real estate.
As Wired described it,
111 Eighth Avenue is no ordinary humongous building. As it happens, the structure sits almost directly on top of where the Hudson Street/Ninth Avenue fiber highway makes a dog-leg to the right before heading north-east toward the Upper West Side.
In New York City, fiber-optic cables travel in large bundles Acer lcbtp03003 Battery underneath the asphalt.
Thus, 111 Eighth Avenue has become known as one of the most important so-called telecom carrier hotels on the Eastern seaboard, if not the entire United States.
Handy for Google to own that, dont you think?
For its part, Google took a bit different approach in describing the property acquisition in a blog post Wednesday:
We believe that this is a great real estate investment in a thriving neighborhood and a fantastic city.
Like the city, our New York office is a melting pot of cultures and ideasits home to Googlers from more than 35 countries who speak more than 40 languages. They live in the five boroughs and spread across the tri-state area. Were excited to continue to build our presence there.
If making one of the largest real estate deals in New York history Apple a1185 Battery counts as building their presence, then they certainly have reason to be excited. While Google intends to allow the existing management company to continue handling the daily operations and dealings with the other current lessees, one has to wonder what the next few years will hold as those leases expire.
