Google is buying Chelsea Market building for over $2B • Hacker News Board

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

#101

Post by yakitori » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 7:09 PM UTC

CodeSheikh wrote: post #4

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?

> Chelsea Market is an amazing place with great offerings of food etc.

It really isn't. It's a tourist trap, especially with the completion of the High Line. The food isn't good and it's overpriced to take advantage of the tourists.

> As long as this transaction does not ruin the ecosystem of CM then New Yorkers are OK with this transaction.

Like new yorkers' opinions matters in manhattan. The only thing that matters in manhattan are billionaires - whether they be from california, israel, russia, china or anywhere else.

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

#102

Post by ionforce » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 7:11 PM UTC

SFLemonade wrote: post #77

Between this $2B deal and the $5B Apple Park deal, I start to wonder how companies are justifying these purchases as remote and distributed work becomes more feasible. They're probably focused on the fact that productivity is still higher in co-located settings and the best talent pools are in major metro areas. But what if, instead, they invested $500M in remote work research and $500M in building a remote work infr…

I don't think working remote has proven itself fully. Otherwise everyone would be doing it.

> They're probably focused on the fact that productivity is still higher in co-located settings and the best talent pools are in major metro areas.

Exactly this.

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

#103

Post by sotojuan » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 7:11 PM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #68

cletus wrote: post #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…

I totally agree. Fun historical note, IBM generated cash in its early days as Google and Apple do today, it bought a lot of real estate all around the world. In the 90's when it seemed liked it was doomed, it "saved itself" by selling off big chunks of that real estate. That gave the company operating capital without having to go to the equity markets or debt markets. Given the ups and downs of tech, it seems like a…

"Land is the only thing in the world worth working for, worth fighting for, worth dying for, because it's the only thing that lasts".

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

#104

Post by hueving » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 7:12 PM UTC

geofft wrote: post #34

fancyfacebook wrote: post #2

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…

>The real answer is for cities to be built up so much that even a Google-sized company is a drop in the bucket.

That's a repulsive suggestion to many people who live in Boulder. Living in a city of <250k people is a feature, not a bug. Boulder is not cheap, if people wanted density they could already move to Denver for the same price and climate.

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

#105

Post by metalliqaz » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 7:14 PM UTC

aresant wrote: post #82

This is such a fascinating cycle. Large pensions & sovereign wealth funds are so desperate for yield vs. low treasuries that they have pushed income producing commercial real estate values to all time highs. As a result these fund managers are then forced to take on larger risks to cover their liabilities by making larger portfolio allocations into public techs like Google, and privates like AirBNB & Uber. And this d…

What do you mean by "Google is taking themselves off the market as a tenant"?

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

#106

Post by finkin1 » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 7:15 PM UTC

hueving wrote: post #100

finkin1 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>If adding 1.5k employees and a new building is "largely ruining Boulder" in your eyes you should see a doctor. Put some effort into understanding perspectives before resorting to derision. Bringing thousands of highly paid employees into a smaller city is often not good for many who already lives there unless they own property. The majority of the new jobs will not go to existing residents, rents will increase, rest…

I appreciate you trying to make OP's case, and I'm genuinely interested in changing my mind about this. What do you think should be done? Should growing companies be prevented from expanding because it might 'erode the character of the city'?

I'm not in favor of the city subsidizing a company's growth, even if it does stimulate the economy in the long-run, but I just can't get behind any policy that would prevent a growing company due to something as nebulous as the erosion of the city's character.

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

#107

Post by xyzzyz » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 7:15 PM UTC

CydeWeys wrote: post #88

eric_h wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The building they purchased in 2010 (111 8th Ave) is a full city block that they picked up for $1.9 billion - seems to be the going rate for a block in Chelsea.

Chelsea Market is 1.2 million sqft. 111 8th Ave is 2.9 million sqft, and the fourth largest building by floor area in all of NYC. Not only is Chelsea Market much shorter on average than 111 8th Ave, its land area is smaller as well. The buildings themselves are also older and less modern, thus worth less. 111 8th Ave is an absolute tank of a building. We got an excellent post-recession deal on 111 8th Ave. Chelsea Ma…

Additionally, unlike other buildings in NYC with similar floor space, 111 8th Ave is not a skyscraper, which makes it more practical and useful, and much cheaper in maintenance.

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

#108

Post by RestlessMind » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 7:15 PM UTC

aresant wrote: post #82

This is such a fascinating cycle. Large pensions & sovereign wealth funds are so desperate for yield vs. low treasuries that they have pushed income producing commercial real estate values to all time highs. As a result these fund managers are then forced to take on larger risks to cover their liabilities by making larger portfolio allocations into public techs like Google, and privates like AirBNB & Uber. And this d…

It also means it is a great time to be able to produce value and be in control of its distribution (eg. start your startup and control the equity). People with lots of money are hungry for yields and will push your valuation higher and higher.

See: cryptocurrencies (bitcoin etc) or sharing economy startups (uber, airbnb etc)

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

#109

Post by ionforce » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 7:16 PM UTC

danharaj wrote: post #27

stevenleeg wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New York is a much larger city than Boulder. I'd assume Google would have a much tougher time trying to tell the NYC government how to operate considering how small their presence is relative to the city, even if we're just talking about Manhattan.

I find the tech scene in NYC to be a lot more tolerable than other places. It seems like many of us here understand that we're small fish compared to, say, the sharks on Wall Street.

An interesting thing to note about tech in NYC is that it's not at all like tech in the west coast where it's tech for tech's sake. In NYC it's always in support of some other industry.

Definitely gives off a different vibe.

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

#110

Post by sumeno » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 7:16 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #90

sumeno wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you would discourage businesses from coming to your city. I suspect your reelection campaign is going to be a difficult one.

General population voters > Tech voters making $100k/year+. Easy win when people who can't make tech salaries are barely scraping by, unable to afford food or meds sometimes because they have to make rent.

How do you improve the quality of life for the current residents without bringing in modern jobs? Many of these cities were built around industries that just aren't relevant any more, how does a city continue to thrive without new industries to replace the ones they have lost?