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Google is buying Chelsea Market building for over $2B

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Re: Google is buying Chelsea Market building for over $2B

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've only become desirable because of an influx of tech employers. Ergo, it makes sense for non-tech employed citizens to not want those employers to locate there (or expand). Also, existing citizens who own and live in these locations take priority over people who want to move in. No one is entitled to additional housing when tech companies foist externalities of additional workers (workers who could work remotel…

> existing citizens who own and live in these locations take priority Yep, wealthy land owners, clearly the group that needs protecting. Actually, can anyone name a major US city where most of the growth came from itself, rather than an influx?

> Yep, wealthy land owners, clearly the group that needs protecting.

Wealthy land owners = citizens who have most of their personal wealth/retirements savings tied up in the equity of their home that has slowly appreciated over years or decades.

How terribly different than tech companies and employees using copyright (source code) and vast quantities of data to reap enormous returns and salaries (respectively).

This isn't David vs Goliath. This is New Boss vs Old Boss. Big Tech needs to get over itself. It's the new bad guy.

Re: Google is buying Chelsea Market building for over $2B

#42
post #5

Google NYC is literally right across the block from Chelsea Market. This transaction would mean that Google will occupy the real estate above the actual market. Chelsea Market is an amazing place with great offerings of food etc. As long as this transaction does not ruin the ecosystem of CM then New Yorkers are OK with this transaction. Lets face it who would not want to sell their real estate to The Google?

There are other office occupants though, and it sounds like Google's going to squeeze them out. So the food offerings might stay, but it's going to begin to feel like a Google cafeteria.

Why would it begin to feel like a Google cafeteria? We have actual Google cafeterias (including in Chelsea Market, on the eighth floor). Chelsea Market is a huge tourist draw. Googlers generally don't eat there because it's crowded and the food costs money.

We do go out at night to The Tippler, a bar beneath the market, though. That definitely feels like an extension of Google space on weeknights.

Re: Google is buying Chelsea Market building for over $2B

#44
post #34

Google has largely ruined Boulder, CO after building a huge new sprawling thing and effectively dictating to locals and politicians exactly how they want the neighborhood and city to be structured going forward. Everyone who isn't a googler hates them and wishes we hadn't allowed that, much less given them massive amounts of corporate welfare. Resist googlers if you can, they destroy communities.

The real answer is for cities to be built up so much that even a Google-sized company is a drop in the bucket. Google NYC right now is about one city block (111 8th), expanding to two. That's a tiny part of Manhattan, which isn't even all of NYC. My old church is located under the old Citigroup Center skyscraper at 601 Lexington, which is also an entire block; Citigroup used to have both that building and the block a…

NYC metro area population is ~21M. It's way more dense than Colorado, so it's not surprising that a large company moving into NYC doesn't change it much.

Re: Google is buying Chelsea Market building for over $2B

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.propertyshark.com/Real-Estate-Reports/2017/03/02... > Data analyzed by COMMERCIALCafé shows a steady rise in the average yearly sale price per square foot, starting at 2012’s $959. The price increased by 40% over 5 years, resting at $1,347 in 2016. The Y-o-Y increase was 7%. Midtown remains the highest priced NYC submarket. Last year, 50 office properties were sold at an average price of $1,531 per square…

So they’re paying above average, which was my point.

Oh, come on. Shockingly high?

Re: Google is buying Chelsea Market building for over $2B

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.propertyshark.com/Real-Estate-Reports/2017/03/02... > Data analyzed by COMMERCIALCafé shows a steady rise in the average yearly sale price per square foot, starting at 2012’s $959. The price increased by 40% over 5 years, resting at $1,347 in 2016. The Y-o-Y increase was 7%. Midtown remains the highest priced NYC submarket. Last year, 50 office properties were sold at an average price of $1,531 per square…

So they’re paying above average, which was my point.

Chelsea Market is an above-average property, though. It's in an excellent location, one block away from the A/C/E/L lines, two blocks away from the 1/2/3 lines, and three blocks away from the F/M lines. The market on the ground floor is an internationally known tourist destination, and the High Line, another huge internationally known tourist destination, actually goes through the building on the second floor by 10th Ave. And Chelsea/Meatpacking are desirable and pricey neighborhoods in general.

Re: Google is buying Chelsea Market building for over $2B

#47
NYC Xoogler here.

Speaking from experience, the main office (111 8th/76 9th) is amazing. I think Google's decision to buy that years ago has totally been vindicated. I'm surprised more high cash surplus companies don't do this, just to control their destiny in a way you simply can't as a tenant (eg if you're a large tenant, each floor you rent in the same building is going to get more expensive, being a tenant limits what you can do).

Other posters have pointed out the Chelsea Market is a mishmash of other buildings (4 IIRC). All true. It's a super-annoying building to get around in though. To get from the 6th floor on one side to the 6th floor on the other side you might have to go to the ground floor and find the right elevator (out of like 20 in 12 different locations) that goes to that floor in that building. Some parts are only served by a single elevator. Others have a bank. Honestly I'd hate to work there, particularly if you had to go through the crowds to get to your one blessed elevator.

One outcome of this might be that Google may well fix this situation by combining floors and elevator banks.

I don't think anything will happen to the ground floor of Chelsea Market.

Re: Google is buying Chelsea Market building for over $2B

#48
post #9

Google has largely ruined Boulder, CO after building a huge new sprawling thing and effectively dictating to locals and politicians exactly how they want the neighborhood and city to be structured going forward. Everyone who isn't a googler hates them and wishes we hadn't allowed that, much less given them massive amounts of corporate welfare. Resist googlers if you can, they destroy communities.

I live in Boulder and don't share this sentiment whatsoever. Google already has a large campus here and they're expanding into an area that frankly needed to be renovated anyway. Their entire new + old complex is supposed to house ~2,000 employees. If adding 1.5k employees and a new building is "largely ruining Boulder" in your eyes you should see a doctor.

I would suggest seeing a Geologist perhaps. Get it? Boulder? Geologist?

Re: Google is buying Chelsea Market building for over $2B

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So they’re paying above average, which was my point.

Chelsea Market is an above-average property, though. It's in an excellent location, one block away from the A/C/E/L lines, two blocks away from the 1/2/3 lines, and three blocks away from the F/M lines. The market on the ground floor is an internationally known tourist destination, and the High Line, another huge internationally known tourist destination, actually goes through the building on the second floor by 10th…

And Google cash costs Google less than other people's.
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