Google Inc. (GOOG) Expands in San Francisco with $65M Building Acquisition

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has expanded its real estate presence in San Francisco by buying The Embarcadero Building for $65 million and announced it was leasing 250,000-square feet at the 24-square tower. The building was purchased from USAA Investment Management Co and Ares Management LP, according to Cory Johnson on Bloomberg. The new building is close to Google’s headquarters in the City.

“It is an interesting building just three blocks from here and couple of blocks from Google’s existing San Francisco operation center,” said Mr. Johnson.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) according to Mr. Johnson is taking a keen interest of the San Francisco area through its latest expansion as it seeks to poach some of the finest talents in the area. The building that Google is purchasing was a former headquarters for shipping companies of which google plans to revamp for boosting its operations in the city. The building is close to headquarters of other major companies in the area such as salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) and many startups.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s expansion in the city will be a major boost for the local economy as more companies continue to move their operations from the Silicon Valley and into the city. The building is centrally located near transit trains and the soon to be terminal and bus station expected to offer convenience for employees moving to and from their places of work.

The move to buy a building in San Francisco comes as the company continues to look for fresh talent in the area that it intends to use for its advancement in key technological areas. This comes as big tech companies led by the likes of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) are accused of signing agreement that would bar each one of them from poaching each other’s talent.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s top executive, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, are reported to have insisted on meeting anyone hired in the company before they carried out their tasks, a move that some people in the company have complained delayed hiring.

“Google is interesting in a lot of ways because Larry and Sergey have insisted on meeting every single hired at the company before they start their job,” said Mr. Johnson.

The fight between Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) over talent is currently immense than any other thing Silicon Valley has ever seen.

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