It’s been said that McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is really a real-estate holding company that just happens to hawk a few burgers on the side. Whether your local Mickey D’s is a franchise operation or a company-owned location, McDonald’s itself likely owns the building and the land it stands on. The company puts a ton of effort into finding top-notch locations with all the right demographics, traffic patterns, and long-term viability. Sites are chosen as much for long-term resale value as for immediate burger-selling prospects.
McDonald’s has crushed its peers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index over the long haul, largely thanks to its acumen in land selection and development. Fellow Dow component Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is also keen on reaping cash value from its enormous real-estate holdings, and it has beaten the Dow by a similarly large margin. Non-Dow retailer Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG) happily pays a large premium for corner lots, knowing that easy access makes for spectacular returns on the investment — and yes, that’s another tremendous market-beater:
McDonald’s data by YCharts.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) may not seem like an obvious copycat of this strategy, but Big G is indeed ripping that page right out of the McDonald’s playbook.
You may have noticed when Google sank $1.9 billion into a 15-story city block in the Manhattan borough of Chelsea. That property was bought in 2010, while property values were still reeling from the impact of the real-estate-powered financial crisis of 2008. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has spruced the area up with free Wi-Fi access for all, and it hopes to cultivate the site into a seriously valuable property over time.
And the real-estate fun continues. This week, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) revealed that its three small offices in London will be consolidated on 2.4 acres of prime land near the massive King’s Cross subway station. The company will spend about $1 billion to buy the plot and build an 11-story tower with 1 million square feet of office space, and the whole thing should be worth some $1.6 billion when construction ends in 2016.
That’s a 60% return on the investment before Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) even moves in and starts using the building. McDonald’s would be proud.
This investment also helps Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) do something useful with the substantial cash reserves being held overseas. At the end of 2011, $21 billion of Google’s $45 billion in cash equivalents sat in foreign accounts. Management has no plans to bring that money back home anytime soon, at least partly due to repatriation tax penalties. This might be a sign that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is thinking of even more big-ticket real-estate investments around the world.
The article Google Follows in the Footsteps of…McDonald’s? originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Anders Bylund owns shares of Google, but he holds no other position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders’ bio and holdings or follow him on Twitter and Google+.The Motley Fool owns shares of Google and McDonald’s. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Google and McDonald’s. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended creating a bull call spread position in McDonald’s. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.
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