Google will spend more than $1 billion on a huge new campus in New York
Google has joined Amazon in its push to grow its operations outside of Silicon Valley.
The Alphabet-owned firm announced on Monday that it will spend $1bn (£792m) on expanding its presence in New York with the construction of a new, 1.7m square foot campus for its employees in lower Manhattan.
Ruth Porat, Google’s chief financial officer, wrote in a blog post on Monday that the company’s new Google Hudson Square campus will be opened in 2020.
Google plans to double the number of its employees in New York to around 14,000 over the next 10 years, Porat wrote on Monday.
The Manhattan campus will comprise two buildings on Hudson Street and a third on Washington Street.
Google has also spent $2.4bn in purchasing the Manhattan Chelsea Market shopping centre and office building earlier this year, and pledged to keep the building’s food hall in operation.
“We’re growing faster outside the Bay Area than within it,” Mrs Porat wrote, “and this year opened new offices and data centers in locations like Detroit, Boulder, Los Angeles, Tennessee and Alabama.”
The New York Google campus is expected to become the headquarters of Google’s global sales team.
Amazon announced last month that it would split its new headquarters between New York and Washington DC. The company plans to open new office space in Long Island City, Queens for 25,000 employees.
Protestors in New York marched in protest at Amazon’s decision last month, with marchers angry over the $3bn tax break given to Amazon by New York City.
The news of Google's new investment comes amid reports that some of the best tech workers are leaving Silicon Valley due to issues such as a lack of diversity and a housing crisis.
