Google will invest $1 billion to open 1.7 million square feet of office space in Hudson Square, the company announced on Monday. The new campus includes property at 315 and 345 Hudson Street and will also be centered around 550 Washington Street, the former freight terminal, St. John’s Terminal. With this expansion from its Chelsea offices at 111 Eighth Avenue, Google said its workforce will double over the next 10 years, adding another 7,000 New York-based staff members.

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Via Joe Schulz on Flickr

Columbus Circle’s Time Warner Center will be renamed the Deutsche Bank Center, Commercial Observer reported on Monday. The name change comes as the Deutsche Bank inked a deal for 1.1 million square feet at the complex. The 25-year lease gives the German bank all available office space at the building except on its 20th floor.

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Via City Realty

In an effort to demystify property ownership and management company networks across New York City, JustFix.nyc, a Brooklyn-based tenant advocacy nonprofit, launched a new tool today to help tenants easily obtain the information they need to deal with difficult landlords. The free tool, available at WhoOwnsWhat.nyc, aims to cut through some of the opaque practices of landlords, like the tendency to use a shell company or LLC to preserve their anonymity. The platform makes it possible to connect dots that are often hidden and will provide tenants, housing advocates, and local officials with the information to fight speculative behavior, harassment, and discrimination.

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While real estate prices are expected to rise in Long Island City and the surrounding area due to Amazon’s impending move to the neighborhood, one listing has lowered its price. The most expensive apartment in the borough of Queens, located at 46-30 Center Boulevard, is on the market again, the New York Post reported. The penthouse, which sits just north of the Pepsi-Cola sign, is asking $3.65 million, less than the $4.25 million it was listed for in 2017. Soon after Amazon announced their move to Long Island City, interest in the neighborhood surged. As 6sqft previously reported, searches for residential apartments in the neighborhood are up 281 percent compared to the daily averages prior to the Amazon news.

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Image courtesy of Michael Vadon’s Flickr

According to the building’s landlord, the Durst Organization, the 104-story, 3-million-square-foot One World Trade Center tower contains more tech and creative tenants than any other in the city. That’s 26 TAMI (Tech, Advertising, Media and Information) tenants, to be exact, 20 of which are in tech, Crain’s reports.

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A federal program designed to root out dirty money in real estate was drastically expanded Thursday, and will now apply to even more cash-deals in more cities. As of last week, all real estate purchases made through a limited liability company at or above $300,000 in 12 metropolitan area will be subject to the disclosure rules, known as the Geographic Targeting Orders, including New York City. The threshold previously varied across cities, starting at $3 million in Manhattan and $1.5 million in the city’s other four boroughs, as first reported by the Real Deal. Virtual currency deals are now subject to the disclosure rules as well.

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Photo of another location, via Common

As of April 2018, co-living startup Common had raised $40 million in Series C venture funding, far more than the $15 and $11.5 million raised by its competitors Ollie and HubHaus. Since opening its first NYC location in 2015 in Crown Heights, Common has expanded with 10 locations in Brooklyn and Queens, but they’ve now decided to turn their attention to Manhattan. The company announced today that they will open a 32-bed building at 47th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in Hell’s Kitchen–“a short subway ride on the C or 7 trains into Long Island City and Amazon’s HQ2.”

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Amazon’s decision to divide its second headquarters between Long Island City and Arlington, Virginia was confirmed on Tuesday, bringing with it questions about how the neighborhoods will withstand the influx of 25,000 new workers each. According to a new study from RENTCafé, LIC already has an occupancy rate of 98.2% and about 15,400 units currently either under construction or in a planning phase, so Amazon’s announcement is sure to add fuel to an already bustling market. In fact, according to listings site CityRealty, searches for residential apartments in the neighborhood are up 281% compared to the daily averages prior to the announcement.

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