Google’s $1B Expansion on Hudson St. and St. John’s Terminal

NEW YORK CITY—Acquiring real estate that would allow doubling its employees in 10 years, Google is investing $1 billion to develop a 1.7 million square-foot campus in the West Village, called Google Hudson Square. The internet behemoth has leased space at 315 Hudson St. and 345 Hudson St. and signed a letter of intent at 550 Washington St. In addition to purchasing Chelsea Market, 111 Eighth Ave. and leasing at Pier 57, Google is redoubling its commitment to New York City’s tech industry.

Google will occupy 280,000 square feet at Jack Resnick & Sons’ 315 Hudson St., a neo-classical office property in the final stages of a $65 million redevelopment. The first phase of the property’s capital improvement program was completed in 2017. It included a new lobby with a glass entrance, concierge desk, contemporary art and new security turnstiles. In the second phase, scheduled to be completed in 2019, the real estate company is installing new mechanical systems including a cooling tower, elevators and new windows. Resnick declined to provide pricing information or the length of the lease.

The world’s most popular search engine company will occupy a portion of the fifth floor, plus five full floors from the sixth to the 10th stories. It will take space vacated by AHRC New York City and Intent Media. Google will have a dedicated lobby, open workspaces, a rooftop garden, a cafe, and indoor and outdoor event space.

“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,” says Jonathan D. Resnick, president of Jack Resnick & Sons. He adds they have been transitioning buildings to meet the needs of modern, innovative companies.

Google’s lease brings the 500,000 square-foot building to 100% occupancy. Other major office tenants at 315 Hudson St. include Galvanize Inc., a tech education company, and Bed Bath & Beyond’s design and photo studios.

In the 1960s, Resnick bought the building from the Heide Candy Company, the maker of Jujubes and Jujyfruits.

For the 315 Hudson lease, CBRE’s Ken Rapp, David Hollander, Doug Lehman and Brendan Herlihy represented Google. Jack Resnick & Sons’ Brett Greenberg and Adam Rappaport provided in-house representation along with a Newmark Knight Frank team led by David Falk, Peter Shimkin, Jason Greenstein and Danny Levine. 

Google also signed a 180,000 square-foot lease for new office space at Trinity Hudson Holdings’ 345 Hudson St. This lease begins in 2019. The deal was announced by the operating partner Hines, on behalf of a joint venture comprising Trinity Real Estate and Norges Bank Real Estate Management. Hines declined to provide the price and the length of the lease.

The property at 345 Hudson is one of 12 assets owned by the Hudson Square Properties joint venture. The buildings were constructed in the early 1900s to house printing presses and were redeveloped by Trinity for creative industries and business uses.

The property spans the full block from King to Charlton streets. With the Google lease, the 980,000-square-foot building is now 100% leased.

CBRE’s Howard Fiddle, Paul Amrich, Zac Price and Ben Joseph represented the owners. Rapp, Lehman and Herlihy of CBRE also represented Google in the 345 Hudson lease.

Google plans to move into the Hudson Street buildings by 2020 and into St. John’s Terminal at 550 Washington St. by 2022. In November, it was reported that Google was in talks to lease or purchase the terminal development. Oxford Properties Group and a subsidiary of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, had purchased the south portion of the property. COOKFOX designed extensive renovations. The owners were discussing selling or leasing the 1.3 million square-foot office building to Google. The recently signed letter of intent suggests this is going to move forward.

The Wall Street Journal reported that unlike the Amazon H2Q contest and its receipt of $3 billion in tax benefits, Google has not pursue tax incentives. Google currently employs 7,000 people in Manhattan. With this planned expansion it is anticipated grow to 14,000 workers. However, according to the WSJ, William Floyd, Google’s director of public policy and government relations, called that figure “a conservative estimate.”

Following Google’s announcement, Ellen Baer, president and CEO of the Hudson Square Business Improvement District, sent a statement to GlobeSt.com endorsing the development. “Google’s expansion sends a powerful message that Hudson Square has become one of the city’s most dynamic creative districts,” she said.