Increasing Google’s investment in New York

Google has been fortunate to call New York City home for more than 20 years, during which time we have grown to 12,000 employees. New York’s vitality, creativity and world-class talent are what keep us rooted here. It is why we’re announcing today that we are deepening our commitment to New York and intend to purchase the St. John’s Terminal in Manhattan for $2.1 billion, which will serve as the anchor of our new Hudson Square campus. 

As Google moves toward a more flexible hybrid approach to work, coming together in person to collaborate and build community will remain an important part of our future. It is why we continue investing in our offices around the world. Our decision to exercise our option to purchase St. John’s Terminal further builds upon our existing plans to invest more than $250 million this year in our New York campus presence. It is also an important part of meeting our previously announced racial equity commitments, which include continuing to grow our workforce in diverse communities like New York.

The St. John’s Terminal site at 550 Washington Street, which we currently lease and expect to open by mid-2023, will be one part of the already sizable investment we’ve made in New York — Google’s largest office outside California. We’ve made substantial progress in building out our 1.7 million-square-foot Hudson Square campus that will serve as the New York headquarters for our Global Business Organization, which includes our sales and partnership teams. The St. John’s Terminal transaction will close in the first quarter of 2022.

St. John’s Terminal is a former freight facility that is being reimagined into a highly sustainable, adaptable and connected building. Its biophilic design connecting people more closely to nature will add numerous outdoor open spaces and reconnect the Hudson Square neighborhood to the waterfront. The building will also offset 100% of its carbon in support of Google’s ambitious carbon goals. 

The development’s biophilic design will feature numerous outdoor spaces (credit: COOKFOX Architects)

Construction is also proceeding at Pier 57, which we expect will be completed next year. This space will provide new opportunities for us to engage with our community neighbors, and will include office space occupied by Google, a public food hall, community space, galleries, the city’s largest public rooftop space and educational and environmental programs run by the Hudson River Park Trust.

We know that like many places around the world, New York has been significantly impacted by the pandemic, and we’re extremely focused on helping local communities, organizations and people emerge stronger from this crisis. For example, since 2005, Google has provided over $170 million in grant funding to nonprofits in New York. In the Hudson Square neighborhood in particular, we’re supporting the new Jackie Robinson Museum opening next year with a grant to help deliver new educational programming for students. We’ve also provided grant funding to the Children’s Museum of the Arts to help launch new digital programming for childhood arts education and to God’s Love We Deliver to offer free nutritious meals and services for those living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other serious illnesses.

We also continue to invest in nurturing the next generation of tech talent and ensuring New Yorkers have equitable access to quality education, training and resources. Our Grow with Google programs are helping to create new pathways to in-demand tech jobs for people most impacted by the pandemic. Through Google’s skilling programs, more than 3,800 New Yorkers have completed a certificate program to date. We are working with select CUNY/SUNY Schools to add Google Certificates to their curriculum as part of the SUNY for All free online training program.

These investments we are making in our NYC campus presence will give us the capacity to grow our workforce in the city to more than 14,000 employees in the coming years, and we look forward to continuing to be an active part of New York City’s vibrant community.

by Ruth Porat via The Keyword