14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like the rumors about Google buying the New York building it's currently renting space in were true. New sources have popped up and are now saying that Google is very close to completing the deal which values the building at about $1.9 billion.
The Wall Street Journal is confirming earlier rumors, though there is still no official word on the deal. If it goes through, it will be the largest transaction for a building in the US so far this year.
Apparently, the bid for the building, which was offered for sale earlier in the year, has now closed with Google being the winner. While the deal hasn't closed yet, it's as good as done as the company already made a down payment.
Google already rents about 550,000 square feet in the building, roughly one sixth of its usable surface. This is part of the reason why Google won and the fact that the company was willing to complete the transaction by the year's end was also a factor.
The 2.9 million square feet (270,000 square meters) building used to belong to the New York and New Jersey Port Authority and is now used by several big-name companies including Nike and Armani.
Along with Google, about one third of the space is occupied by telecommunications companies. The building also houses a Telx ISP facility so internet connectivity is not going to be an issue for Google.
Google has about 2,000 employees in New York, but it is hiring at an increased rate again and was starting to get crowded in the floors it was already occupying.
The deal may still fall apart, though that is unlikely. It's unclear what will happen to the existing companies renting space there, though it's unlikely Google will be able to fill the entire building by its own very soon.