Google has denied it’s facing any construction delays on the buildout of its One Westside office building in Rancho Park, after The Real Deal reported last week that the company has pushed back its move-in date to next year.
A Google spokesperson said the firm remains committed to moving into the 584,000-square-foot building at 10800 Pico Boulevard under a 14-year lease it has with owners Hudson Pacific Properties and Macerich. The spokesperson said the firm did not have a more specific move-in date, but plans to move employees into the office campus in 2023. She added construction is “still ongoing” on the interiors of the complex.
When Google announced it had struck a deal for a lease in 2019, the tenant build-out was expected to be completed in 2022, according to a release from Hudson Pacific and Macerich at the time. Google’s lease was expected to start upon completion of the build-out.
Sources familiar with the project also told TRD it was supposed to be finished by the end of this year.
The agreement eventually changed: Google started its tenant improvement work on the property in December, according to records filed with L.A. County, and signed the lease before the build-out was complete.
A spokesperson for Hudson Pacific said Google’s lease has already commenced and the firm is already paying rent at the property, despite the fact that construction is ongoing, adding “whether or not their move-in date slips a few months has no impact” on the company.
Google is doubling down on office space across the U.S., at a time when some tech and media firms are giving up their physical presences.
The firm is currently focused on ground-up construction and build-outs of office space, CEO Sundar Pichai said on an earnings call in July.
In April, Pichai said the company was planning to spend $9.5 billion on investing in offices and data centers this year in the U.S. In the first quarter, the company spent nearly $4 billion on office purchases in New York, London and Poland.