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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

#231

Post by bonesss »

sabujp wrote: post #225
CydeWeys wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> 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. complexity should be no problem for Google engineers

Sounds like an awesome excuse to implement a Star Trek/Enders game style "follow the lights on the wall" internal navigation system...

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

#232

Post by CSMastermind »

jackgolding wrote: post #198
RestlessMind wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)

I've read about this a few time this year, do you think there will be some "tipping point" or crisis about these funds not being able to generate wealth?

It's already happening. Some funds have starting founding their own suite startups because they can't find enough places to put their money.

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

#233

Post by notyourday »

dx034 wrote: post #229
notyourday wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are not enough elevators in that building, especially on the 9th avenue side.

Maybe better for employee's health. >95% of people shouldn't require an elevator working in that building. Being forced to walk 5 floors instead of taking the elevator can have positive effects

The number of people in that building is too high for the stairs.

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

#234

Post by unreal37 »

zephraph wrote: post #51
djtriptych wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google employees already eat for free at 5-6 internal restaurants within the Google office space. I used to work at Google NYC and would occasionally eat at a nice Thai spot in Chelsea Market but most of the time I'd just take the free lunch.

Unfortunately that Thai place closed due to the rising cost of rent in the building. I work in the Food Network office in CM. For now, heh.

Hey, I work on the Food Network Canada website. For now.

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

#235

Post by 52-6F-62 »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #200
52-6F-62 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They had an enclosure containing an environment for growing micro greens you could pick yourself. lol. It wasn't for us I/O'ers, though. I was impressed, but maybe I haven't been spoiled yet. They did just have the one cafeteria when I was there, but I wouldn't talk it down. Waterloo isn't that large of an office, relatively speaking. I wouldn't be surprised that the NYC location is slaying Kitchener/Waterloo. I'd ho…

The microgreens are not for self-picking, but the kitchen staff picks from it. It's impressive to get fed 3 meals a daily, yes. Many things are impressive. But you'd be amazed how entitled the average Googler gets after a few months. It is still a job after all.

I guess we all get pretty used to our comforts when they come and what was once normal changes.

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

#236

Post by jsky_goog »

lazerpants wrote: post #183
jsky_goog wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the concern but as someone who grew up in Boulder, and now works at Google Boulder I feel like people are giving off this incorrect impression of Boulder. It's a small town (~120k people w/ students) but it was never a particularly affordable place. Unfortunately there's not a whole lot that can be done to shield a desirable small town from becoming more expensive as more people become aware of it's exis…

Boulder may be the most quintessentially NIMBY community in the USA. And it's been that way for decades, so yes, this is a strange discussion to have about Boulder of all places. Importantly though, I suspect Boulder has an above average number of renters who will be disproportionately impacted by an increase in high paying job growth, as they will not see any return on equity.

This is very true, last census I saw which I think was a few years old said 65% of residents rented.

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

#237

Post by vram22 »

epc wrote: post #182
vram22 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>In the 90's when it seemed liked it was doomed, it "saved itself" by selling off big chunks of that real estate. Wonder if that was during Lou Gerstner's time as CEO at IBM. I had read his book Who says Elephants can't Dance, about what he did to turn IBM around. It was an interesting read. Don't remember if selling off some of their real estate was part of what they did, though it could have been. A review of the b…

The real estate fire sale started in 1992 along with the spin–outs of various divisions (some of which completed, like IBM Federal Systems and Lexmark, others were halted by Gerstner like AdStar (storage systems) and Pennant (big printers).

Interesting. I'm reading that book (again) from the Archive, should be worth it.

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

#238

Post by metalliqaz »

bllguo wrote: post #111
metalliqaz wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

They bought the building and thus don't need to rent. What's the confusion?

They're only "in the market" if they are shopping for a new space. They just bought the same building they were in. That doesn't affect the commercial office space market.

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

#239

Post by mancerayder »

stale2002 wrote: post #214
mancerayder wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep hearing this over and over in this forum, relax the code, change the zoning laws, that'll solve problems. How many of these folks actually live in a densely populated city? Zoning laws in Manhattan have a different source and downstream effect than some suburb of SF or LA, or some other city with housing cost issues. It's a huge topic of conversation, but I'll summarize it by offering a few items to ponder bef…

Yes, I do live in a high density city, San Francisco, and before that I lived in NYC for 2 years. Manhattan is absolutely not dense enough for me. It has like a couple small areas, with 40 story buildings. The skyscrapers are not high enough for me. Here is how things should work. We should pick a single 1 mile square area, and in this area there are zero building height limits. Every single building in this area sho…

Since you've lived in Manhattan, have you since been following the serious infrastructure issues that have been affecting the subway system here?

Have you had a chance to see the effects on massive, quick development on specifically the mass transit system in Brooklyn (downtown Brooklyn, in particular)?

Look, I'm not saying there shouldn't be density. I'm just trying to point a finger at other elements that should be thought about other than tall buildings. I don't have kids, so I won't even get started on the downstream effects density has on school crowdedness, choices and desirability of areas.

The left hand doesn't talk to the right hand in the vast bureaucracy that is NYC. If development and rezoning were done with consideration for long-term downstream factors, I wouldn't have needed to write these comments.

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

#240

Post by saalweachter »

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…

Google offices have a very collegiate feel; Google NYC feels like The Big U.
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