
Google Buying Manhattan Office Building for $1.9 Billion  - 1SockChuck
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2010/12/03/wsj-google-has-bought-111-8th-avenue/
======
Terretta
Not sure why this headline says "Office Building". Calling this an office
building is like calling the Internet tubes.

It's a colo hotel, with floors an entire block in size that are nothing but
vast datacenter spaces.

Here's the cable conduit:

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/78888924@N00/3808798230/>

Here's Google's "office". Each of the colos fills this kind of space with
cabinets or racks:

[http://www.sawagoodidea.com/wp-
content/uploads/2005_11_googl...](http://www.sawagoodidea.com/wp-
content/uploads/2005_11_google8.jpg)

If you walk up or down 15th or 16th street and look at the windows, you'll see
which floors are datacenter space because their windows are blocked out. For
example:

[http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&q=111+8th+ave&...](http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&q=111+8th+ave&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&hl=en&hq=&hnear=111+8th+Ave,+Brooklyn,+Kings,+New+York+10011&ll=40.741226,-74.003928&spn=0.016469,0.025663&z=16&layer=c&cbll=40.741315,-74.004122&panoid=2aW4BatIxITsXHVFTWfZ8A&cbp=12,11.94,,0,-48.19)

// We've been colo'd at 111 8th for a decade.

~~~
brown9-2
Eh? Google has offices - with people, and cubes, and dining in it - in at
least four floors of that building. They have about 2000 employees in this
building.

Here are a lot more pictures of that space:

[http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Search-Engines/Inside-Googles-
Manha...](http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Search-Engines/Inside-Googles-Manhattan-
Office)

<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/fashion/31google.html>

<http://picasaweb.google.com/photos.jobs/NewYorkOfficePhotos> (linked from
<http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/uslocations/new-york/>)

There are also a handful of other companies - such as barnesandnoble.com -
with office space in this building.

Some of the floors might be datacenter space, but a huge amount of it is also
people-office space.

~~~
Terretta
There are a number of other buildings with office space in Manhattan. Not many
have multiple datacenter floors covering a city block. One of these
characteristics is more relevant to Google than the other.

// As an aside, it's curious that 60 Hudson St looks so much like one end of
111 8th Ave.

~~~
brown9-2
Your parent comment reads like you are asserting that this building is used
for datacenters _only_.

Also the article itself states that they likely aren't that interested in
hosting their own servers in this building:

 _Google’s purchase of the building provides access to additional office space
for its growing New York sales and engineering operation at 111 8th Avenue...

While Google could build out its own data center space at 111 8th Avenue, the
cost of power in New York probably precludes a massive server farm in the
building. Most of Google’s large-scale data centers are located in suburban or
rural areas with cheaper power._

~~~
Terretta
The headline here on HN fails to convey why Google has an interest in this
building.

That it contains offices is of secondary importance. We don't describe
Interpol suspects by starting with the characteristic that they are 60% water.

Also, the citation is speculation ("probably"). If the cost of power
"precludes" a massive server farm in the building, there wouldn't be multiple
massive server farms in the building. Our cost for power in Manhattan is only
negligibly different than in Texas.

The quote about rural areas with cheap power has nothing to do with the
importance of being at 111 8th Ave for peering.

~~~
brown9-2
"The headline here on HN fails to convey why Google has an interest in this
building"

Well, that's what the article being linked to is for :)

~~~
Terretta
My initial comment was about the headline, not the article, which doesn't
mention the phrase "office building".

More headlines like saying "Google bought an office building":

\- "Netflix offering $100,000 an hour for color video"

\- "Google spends $6M stock to keep computer user from Facebook"

\- "Joe Lieberman demands Amazon.com take English-language documents offline"

They're true, but they're not the point.

~~~
borism
we got the point already, relax, it's not that big of a deal :)

------
lkrubner
I just got a tour of the offices last week. For those of you who do not know,
this is mostly the DoubleClick crew. A lot of the people working there
originally worked for DoubleClick and then became part of Google when Google
bought DoubleClick. This is also how Google ended up with a New York office.

To the commenter who said this is a great sign for the New York tech scene, I
guess I agree, but this needs to be seen as a rebound from a low point. After
all, there was a point back in the 90s when DoubleClick seemed a dominant
power, and at that time New York seemed like the natural center of the
advertising industry, and it seemed like New York's dominance of advertising
would last forever -- all of which later was called in question.

The office has a lot of the amenities that I guess you would associate with a
modern high tech company -- there is a game room with pool tables and foos
ball and ping pong, there is some nice design elements, there is a little
museum of old computers in one of the hallways, people ride down the hallways
on scoot rides, there are bunch of little coffee shops where everything is
free, and there is a room you can go and get a massage.

For all that, though, I agree with the commenter who said the place is a
little dumpy. I'm surprised this place is worth $1.9 billion - I'm always a
little surprised at how expensive New York real estate is.

~~~
BarkMore
Minor correction: Google opened an the office in NY three or four years before
the DoubleClick acquisition. Google was already in the building at the time of
the acquisition.

~~~
wan23
Not only that, but Google was already using 4x the amount of office space in
the building that DoubleClick was at the time of the acquisition.

------
jgv
This is a great sign of growth for tech in NYC. It's a beautiful building and
I hope it gives Google a chance to expand their operations in the city. Here's
the website for the building if anyone is interested:
<http://www.111eighth.com>

------
nostromo
Fun fact from the NYTimes article: this building has more square footage than
the Empire State Building.
[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/nyregion/03building.html?_...](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/nyregion/03building.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss)

------
tricky
"The offering is being closely watched as a barometer of the Manhattan real
estate market."

Does anyone know the Manhattan real estate market? is 1.9 B a steal?

------
adolfoabegg
On Google Maps
[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=111+8th+Avenue,+New+York,+NY,+United+States&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.956457,70.927734&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=111+8th+Ave,+Brooklyn,+Kings,+New+York+10011&ll=40.74138,-74.003005&spn=0.002219,0.004329&t=h&z=18)

------
qeorge
Beautiful building, had lunch with a friend there. IIRC it also housed
DoubleClick before the merger, so "moving in" was a matter of Google taking
over their floor(s).

------
nathanwdavis
What is the proximity of this building to Wall Street? I wonder if they are
looking to get a foot into the high frequency trading business in some way.

~~~
jkent
I think a lot of the stock exchanges have their data centres in Jersey now,
iirc?

~~~
stewiecat
Yup, in Mahwah area, up Route 17 near the NY border. The NYSE built a massive
data center there specifically for colocation of high frequency trading
operations, even going so far as ensuring each customers switch runs are the
same length. It was on 60:Minutes a while ago.

~~~
tlrobinson
This?
[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/07/60minutes/main6936...](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/07/60minutes/main6936075.shtml)

------
hugh3
At first I thought it looked like an incredibly dumpy building for $1.9
billion. Then I read that it's actually the entire city block that they're
buying.

Am I correct in thinking that New York City planning regulations would make it
damn near impossible to tear down that dumpy-looking building and build a
shiny new one?

~~~
ahilss
Regardless of whether the building looks dumpy, the view of Midtown is
magnificent:
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iU0pdqJt5xOtzMhGIbrfbg?...](http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iU0pdqJt5xOtzMhGIbrfbg?feat=embedwebsite)

~~~
jimbokun
Is that guy in a bathrobe?

------
cies
who thinks this leads in google's extension of its product line with financial
product that are "note evil"?

i feel financial products are essentially "information product" to begin with.

~~~
brown9-2
I think this would be a mistaken assumption to make; they already have about
2000 employees in this location and a pretty strong presence. I think this
transaction just turns them from leasers into owners.

