I’ve always said that, if I got sufficiently rich, I’d start buying land. Land belonging to neighbors, land belonging to businesses – pretty much any land I could see, until I owned my own suburb, city, or state. Now, I’ll never be that wealthy, but Google already is, and the company is leasing a suspicious amount of space in Chelsea, New York.
This led The New York Observer’s John Koblin to ask, “Is Google about to create a city-based campus in Chelsea, much like the one it created in Mountain View, Calif.?” Koblin then pointed to a lot of evidence that suggests things are heading in that direction.
“The California-based Internet giant has expanded its city headquarters at 76 Ninth Avenue by 49,000 square feet, increasing its total presence in the building to 360,000 square feet,” he wrote. “At the same time, across the street, there’s a major lease agreement for more than 100,000 square feet at Chelsea Market at 75 Ninth Avenue with a deal close to being finalized . . .”
There’s also the DoubleClick acquisition to consider – if it goes through, Google will presumably inherit the agency’s New York offices (and they’re located on Eighth Avenue).
So what’ll it be: Goo York? New Google? Both seem appropriate, and judging from Koblin’s evidence, the existence of the place is inevitable – all that’s left to do is pick a name.
