• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, December 17, 2018

In a show of growth and commitment to New York, Google said Monday the company plans to spend $1 billion to build a new campus, Google Hudson Square. The major real estate expansion in New York City makes the company one of the city’s largest commercial tenants in the area.

The goal is to move into the two Hudson Street buildings by 2020, followed by 550 Washington Street in 2022. With the move, Google Hudson Square becomes the primary location for the New York-based Global Business Organization, explains Ruth Porat, chief financial officer of Google and Alphabet, in a blog.  

The building will span more than 1.7 million square feet and will become the hub for thousands of additional employees. Today’s 7,000-employee New York facility works on a variety of services such as Search, Ads, Maps, YouTube, Cloud, Technical Infrastructure, Sales, Partnerships and Research.

The decision is based on lease agreements at 315 and 345 Hudson Street and a signed letter of intent at 550 Washington Street.

Porat wrote that Google is growing more outside the Bay Area than within it. This year the company opened new offices and data centers in Detroit, Boulder, Los Angeles, Tennessee and Alabama.

Its commitment to New York will have the capacity to more than double the number of Google employees during the next 10 years.

Google’s investment in New York is part of the company’s commitment to grow and invest in U.S. facilities, offices and jobs, per Porat.

Earlier this year, Google announced the $2.4 billion purchase of the Manhattan Chelsea Market and shared plans to lease additional space at Pier 57.

“We believe that as our company grows, we have a responsibility to support the communities we call home,” she wrote. “That means supporting the infrastructure and services that make our neighborhoods unique places to work, live and play.”

The expansion puts Google’s ambitions to grow outside of Silicon Valley on par with Amazon and Apple. Amazon recently selected New York as one of two East Coast locations for major satellite offices expected to employ 25,000 new workers each by 2028.

Apple recently chose Austin, Texas, to invest $1 billion in a new facility, with satellite offices in San Diego, Seattle, and Culver City, California. The Austin facility is scheduled to open in 2021.