Google to Spend Over $1B to Build New Campus in New York City

Google has said it is planning to spend over $1 billion to build its brand new campus in New York City — a project that might add more than 7,000 much-needed jobs to the region.

That word comes only days after Apple said it will build new offices across the United States, a plan that includes adding hundreds of jobs in New York. Amazon.com said earlier that it will establish another headquarters in Queens, pulling in tens of thousands of highly paid workers.

“New York City continues to be a great source of diverse, world-class talent — that’s what brought Google to the city in 2000, and that’s what keeps us here,” said Ruth Porat, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Google and parent company Alphabet in a statement.

“Google’s New York campus, dubbed Google Hudson Square, will span more than 1.7 million square feet, encompassing multiple leased buildings on Hudson and Washington streets, Porat said in a blog post.

“Google employs more than 7,000 people in New York City who work on teams in core operations, including search, advertising, maps and YouTube, The Washington Post reports. “Over the next decade, the Hudson Square campus has the capacity to more than double Google’s New York head count.”

NPR has reported that as it unveiled its Austin, TX, expansion plan, Apple also said it’s growing in other spots far from Silicon Valley, with plans to add hundreds of new jobs in cities from Pittsburgh, New York and Boston to Boulder and Portland, Ore.

“That’s in addition to its plans for new sites in Seattle, San Diego and Culver City. The moves from Google and Apple came one month after Amazon announced the results of its much-anticipated search for a place to build its second headquarters. In the end, the online retailer decided to open two new facilities — one in New York City and another in northern Virginia near Washington, D.C.,” said NPR.

“Big picture, a win for New York City is a win for Long Island, because our economies are linked,” Kevin Law, president of the Long Island Association business group, told Newsday. “About 30 percent of Nassau County residents commute to New York City, primarily Manhattan, and they bring in 40 percent of disposable income for the county, which then supports real estate, downtowns and other businesses.”

Long Island will reap more of the benefits if its mass transit system is improved and more multifamily housing is built near train stations, Chris Jones, senior vice president and chief planner for the Regional Plan Association, told the Long Island paper. “The transit system, particularly the LIRR, has to perform and go to the places these jobs are located,” Jones said. “The good news for Long Island is there are a lot of big investments in the LIRR, including East Side Access and the third track, which will expand capacity of the system.”