Google is buying Chelsea Market building for over $2B

Post by mustacheemperor » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 8:09 PM UTC

CydeWeys wrote: post #38

djtriptych wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google already occupies the majority of the space above the market - at least 3 full floors (As of a couple years ago). It's not much of a change for any New Yorkers except that they tend not to renew leases for other office space tenants.

New York Googler here. Chelsea Market is actually 19 different buildings on the same block that have merged together over time. The floor layout is truly crazy. Some floors are staggered by a full half height at the interface between buildings, there are exterior courtyards on the inside of the block that are roofed over, and buildings are of differing height. You can see it all on Google Maps; contrast with 111 8th…

Post by downandout » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 8:15 PM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #53

downandout wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

That's a really silly response. They're paying 4% above average (and that's the 2016 average - prices may be higher in 2018). The average likely includes a range far greater than 4% depending on the properties involved. Google is clearly not paying anything remotely describable as "shockingly high".

Post by blackguardx » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 8:18 PM UTC

oh_sigh wrote: post #121

blackguardx wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Boulder has a population of ~100,000. I don't oppose the Google office, but their workforce will grow to represent 1-2% of the city's populace. That isn't a "drop in the bucket."

Boulder doesn't exist on an island. Many people commute to Boulder from Denver, the L-towns(Longmont, Lousiville, Lafayette), and even Fort Collins. So the population of the region is more like 700k

Post by wbl » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 8:21 PM UTC

hux_ wrote: post #56

yeukhon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They want the entire building badly for years now so it makes sense to overpay and grab the deal right now before another developer comes in with a more competitive offer, knowing Google would not move away! $2B for this is not expensive, considered how much they had paid to other short-term leases. Moving to and decorating new office space will cost them many millions. If they can own the building, $2B is a big savi…

For $2B you could probably buy a nice village by the sea with great weather all year round. Having worked in downtown NYC, I'd pick a beach any day of the week. But I can see the value of a large marketing, finance and sales presence for a Google type firm in the city. Engineering not so much.

Post by ceejayoz » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 8:25 PM UTC

downandout wrote: post #143

ceejayoz wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a really silly response. They're paying 4% above average (and that's the 2016 average - prices may be higher in 2018). The average likely includes a range far greater than 4% depending on the properties involved. Google is clearly not paying anything remotely describable as "shockingly high".

I’ll get more downvotes for this, but 4% when billions are involved is a shocking amount of money. In this case, that’s roughly $80 million - enough for Eric Schmidt to buy another G650.