Google Unveils $1 Billion Manhattan Campus

Google will further expand its presence in New York City. The technology company announced on Tuesday that it is assembling a $1 billion, 1.7 million-square-foot campus on Manhattan’s West Side.

Located in the Hudson Square area of Manhattan’s Midtown South submarket,  near the Hudson River, the new urban campus will comprise three sites. Google will take 1.3 million square feet at 550 Washington St., the site of a former rail terminal that is under redevelopment by Oxford Properties Group. The Toronto-based company and its partner, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, acquired the site earlier this year for $700 million.

Google will also lease 180,000 square feet at 345 Hudson St., a 980,000-square-foot office property owned by Trinity Hudson Holdings. The joint venture comprises Hines, the ownership’s operating partner; Trinity Real Estate; and Norges Bank Real Estate Management.  CBRE’s Howard Fiddle, Paul Amrich, Zac Price and Ben Joseph represented the ownership. Google was represented by another CBRE team including Ken Rapp, Doug Lehman and Brendan Herlihy.

Jack Resnick & Sons, which is undertaking a $65 million redevelopment of 315 Hudson, unveiled details on Monday of the 280,000-square-foot space which the technology giant will occupy in 2020.

By leasing floors 6 through 10 as well as a portion of the fifth floor, Jack Resnick & Sons is planning to create a modern and collaborative environment featuring open workspaces and amenities including a rooftop garden, indoor and outdoor event spaces to host clients and community events and a café. Additionally, the building will offer Google a dedicated lobby on the ground floor and a bicycle storage room on the lower level.

With this deal, the 500,000-square-foot building has reached full occupancy. Other notable tenants include Bed Bath & Beyond and Galvanize Inc.

Located at 315 Hudson St., the property was originally built in 1896 to serve as a nine-story candy factory, and it was expanded in both 1905 and 1911. Jack Resnick & Sons acquired the asset in the 1960s from the Henry Heide Candy Co. and converted it into an office building.

The ownership started an ambitious redevelopment project two years ago. The lobby, which was completed in 2017, features a new glass entry, concierge desk, contemporary artwork and new security turnstiles. Jack Resnick & Sons is currently installing all new mechanical systems including a cooling tower, modernized elevators with a destination dispatch system and new windows as part of the second phase of the project.

“We recognized about a decade ago that Hudson Square was destined to become a hub for New York’s growing creative, technology and office users,” Jonathan Resnick, Jack Resnick & Sons’ president, said in a prepared 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.” 

Major expansion plans

In addition to this lease, Google also announced expansion plans at St. John’s Terminal and 345 Hudson Street. The company will take roughly 120,000 square feet in the latter and 1.3 million square feet at 550 Washington St.—home to the Terminal.

“New York City continues to be a great source of diverse, world-class talent,” Ruth Porat, Google’s senior vice president & CFO, explained in prepared remarks. “Today we’re taking the next step in our commitment to our New York City presence by investing over $1 billion in capital improvements to establish a new campus, Google Hudson Square.”

CBRE’s Ken Rapp, David Hollander, Doug Lehman and Brendan Herlihy worked on behalf of Google in the negotiations. Jack Resnick & Sons’ Brett Greenberg and Adam Rappaport kept things in-house, representing the company along with a Newmark Knight Frank leasing team led by David Falk, Peter Shimkin, Jason Greenstein and Danny Levine.

Last year, Greenberg took over as Jack Resnick & Sons’ new executive managing director of leasing, responsible for marketing efforts at 315 Hudson.