Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is leasing a 35,000-square foot office space in the Mission district of San Francisco. Engineers who do not want to work at its Mountain View headquarters can work at the new office. The area is enough to accommodate 200 employees. Sources close to Google told Financial Times that the search engine giant plans to house start-ups it acquires at the Mission district office.
Will Google’s new office help it attract talent?
The newspaper printer Howard Quinn operated from the same office at 298 Alabama Street for the past 50 years before it went out of business in 2012. The more than 8-decade old building is suitable for manufacturing. So, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) may use it to develop devices and gadgets. The search engine giant recently paid $3.2 billion to purchase Nest Labs, which makes smoke detectors and thermostats. Google has also purchased multiple robotics companies over the past few months.
Leasing the office space in San Francisco suggests that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) may be planning to acquire more hardware companies. Google’s move shows that Silicon Valley tech giants increasingly want to build their presence in San Francisco city. Tech companies want to attract more talent. Many new engineers don’t want to make the hour-long commute. So, it makes sense to allow them to work and live in desirable areas.
Google opening another office in South Park
The influx of tech companies has pushed up commercial rent and house prices in the city of San Francisco. Office rents have more than doubled over the past two years. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) already has a big office in the SoMa district of San Francisco. The company is opening another one in South Park to house the Google Ventures team. The search engine company’s decision to lease an office space in San Francisco comes at a time when its commuter buses are being targeted by protesters. There have been rumors that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is also looking for office space in San Francisco.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares were up 0.46% to $1,208.30 at 12:11 PM EST on Tuesday.
