Google is expanding in Manhattan

Google
image via Google Maps

On the heels of Amazon’s controversial move to establish a new campus in Queens, Google is putting down more stakes in Manhattan. As New York Times reports, Google is expanding its real estate footprint with a $1 billion dollar, 1.7 million square foot hub in Hudson Square, that will include the St. John’s Terminal Building on Washington St., and two buildings on Hudson St. Unlike Amazon, Google isn’t counting on tax breaks for the project.

More from New York Times:

“We’ve been growing steadily for the past 18 years without heralding trumpets, or asking for support from the government,” William Floyd, Google’s head of external affairs in New York said this month. “We’ve done it by the dint of our own work.”

Google’s expansion has not come entirely without criticism. The owners of some neighborhood restaurants say they are losing potential customers because of the company’s free-food-at-work policies.

And some Chelsea residents complain that the company’s presence has been a gentrifying force that has driven up the cost of housing in the area, a suggestion with data to support it.

Google purchased the Chelsea Market building earlier this year, which is across the street from its 111 8th Ave Manhattan headquarters.

As Gothamist points out, Disney is also moving to the same neighborhood, with City Winery among the occupants who will be ousted when the entire block is demolished to make room for their complex.