UPDATED, May 23, 1:09 p.m.: Got Milk?
Google is further expanding its footprint in Chelsea by picking up the Milk Building at 450 West 15th Street from Jamestown Properties, according to Crain’s. The building is connected by a bridge to another former Jamestown property now owned by Google — the Chelsea Market building at 75 Ninth Avenue.
“This purchase will help us meet our short-term growth needs in Chelsea-Meatpacking,” said William Floyd, Google’s director of external affairs.
The price of the transaction was $600 million, according to the Financial Times. A Cushman & Wakefield team of Doug Harmon, Adam Spies, and Kevin Donner represented the seller, while Google was represented by CBRE’s Darcy Stacom.
Cushman and CBRE also represented Jamestown and Google, respectively, in last year’s $2.4 billion all-cash Chelsea Market deal.
This acquisition marks the tech giant’s third property purchase in the neighborhood since 2010, when the company picked up the full-block 111 Eighth Avenue for $1.8 billion from Taconic Partners, Jamestown and New York State Common Retirement Fund.
In addition to the three properties it now owns, Google is also a major tenant at two other adjacent properties: Vornado Realty Trust and Related Company’s 85 10th Avenue, where it leases 240,000 square feet, and RXR Realty and Youngwoo & Associates’ Pier 57, where it will take up 370,000 square feet.
Google currently has over 8,000 employees in New York City, and has plans to double that over the next decade with a new $1 billion campus in Hudson Square. [Crain’s, FT] — Kevin Sun