The New York-based investment firm W.P. Carey & Co. announced today that it’s leasing the “Binoculars Buiding,” designed by Frank Gehry in 1991, to Google as part of Google’s plans to hire 6,000 new employees. In addition to the Gehry building — constructed in 1991 as the headquarters for advertising agency Chiat/Day, which remained there until last September –Google is leasing the buildings adjacent to it, creating a campus that will include about 100,000 square feet of space.
PRESS RELEASE:
Investment firm W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC) announced today that it has leased an office building at 340 Main Street in Venice, California to Google Inc. The well-known landmark, with two wings connected by a four-story pair of binoculars sculpted by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, will serve as the outward face of the new Google campus. Combined with two adjacent buildings, the campus will total approximately 100,000 square feet. The expansion in Venice is part of Google’s recently announced growth initiative, with more than 6,000 employees to be added this year.
The original Chiat/Day lease, structured as a sale leaseback transaction in 1994, expired in September 2010. The new deal is also a long term lease involving significant improvements to the building by landlord and tenant in order to create a unique campus environment that can support Google’s continued growth in the area.
W. P. Carey Director Brooks Gordon commented, “We are thrilled to complete this transaction with Google. As the world’s largest search company, Google is the ideal tenant for a landmark building with binoculars for a façade. Not only have we secured a solid long term tenant for the property, but the creation of the Google campus in downtown Venice brings a large, vibrant workforce to the neighborhood, solidifying the area as a hub for creative businesses. Given the building’s architectural renown, we are delighted that the deal will enable Google to create a distinctive new campus location and that we have been able to enhance the long term value of the investment for our shareholders.”
Commenting to the Los Angeles Times, Thomas Williams, a senior engineer at Google, said “Los Angeles is a world-class city with a talented workforce, and we’re thrilled to expand our presence as we enter our biggest hiring year in company’s history.” Venice Councilman Bill Rosendahl commented, “I am ecstatic that Google will be opening offices in Venice. I am particularly happy that its large number of employees will be contributing to our local economy. This will be a huge boon to the restaurants and shops on Main Street, Rose Avenue and Abbot Kinney Boulevard.”
W. P. Carey & Co. LLC
W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC) is an investment management company that provides long term sale leaseback and build to suit financing for companies worldwide and manages a global investment portfolio of approximately $10 billion. Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (WPC), W. P. Carey and its CPA® series of income-generating, non-traded REITs help companies and private equity firms unlock capital tied up in real estate assets. The W. P. Carey Group’s investments are highly diversified, comprising contractual agreements with approximately 275 long-term corporate obligors spanning 28 industries and 17 countries. http://www.wpcarey.com
