Google Buys 111 Eighth Avenue

Google has agreed to pay $1.8B for its massive Manhattan office building, which looms over Chelsea and covers an entire city block. Real estate watchers say the move signals a rebounding in New York's long-slumping office space market.

“This decision is further evidence that large-scale buildings are trading once again,” said Ross Moskowitz, a real estate lawyer at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan and a former city economic development official, “and high-end users are looking to take advantage of these opportunities.” The brick building, which covers an entire block bound by 15th and 16th Streets, already houses Google’s East Coast headquarters and 1,800 employees, as well as Lifetime Entertainment, barnesandnoble.com, Nike USA and Deutsch advertising. But at 2.9 million square feet, it has more space than the Empire State Building and plenty of room for Google to grow.