Dec 7, 2019 - Technology

Big Tech continues real estate spree in New York

The Vessel at Hudson Yards, New York City in Oct. 2019. Photo: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

Amazon said it signed a new lease on Friday for 335,000 square feet of New York City's Hudson Yards neighborhood, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The big picture: Outrage from activists and local lawmakers and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over Amazon's now-canceled HQ2 has not curtailed Big Tech's massive physical expansion into New York.

Driving the news: Facebook is currently in talks to lease nearly 700,000 square feet of New York's iconic Farley Building, per WSJ, on top of a lease it signed in November for 1.5 million square feet in Hudson Yards.

  • The new lease would elevate Facebook to the top ranks of New York's largest corporate tenants, WSJ notes — alongside Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.
  • Google said in 2018 that it hopes to start moving into Manhattan's Chelsea Market and Pier 57 by 2020, followed by establishing its 1.7 million-square-foot Google Hudson Square campus in 2022.

The bottom line: Amazon's new office space comes without any of the tax incentives offered as part of its New York HQ2 deal. Facebook signed its Hudson Yards lease without any direct local financial incentives or tax credits — but it is currently unknown what Facebook could get for moving into Farley Building, per WSJ.

Go deeper: After Amazon HQ2, Northern Virginia tries to build regional brand

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 10 p.m. ET: 32,471,119 — Total deaths: 987,593 — Total recoveries: 22,374,557 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 10 p.m. ET: 7,032,524 — Total deaths: 203,657 — Total recoveries: 2,727,335 — Total tests: 99,483,712 — Map.
  3. States: "We’re not closing anything going forward": Florida fully lifts COVID restaurant restrictions — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam tests positive for coronavirus.
  4. Health: Young people accounted for 20% of cases this summer.
  5. Business: Coronavirus has made airports happier places —The expiration of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance looms.
  6. Education: Where bringing students back to school is most risky.
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What he's saying: The ad — which began Friday night, and is a follow-up to "Fresh Start" — draws from a Biden speech earlier in the week in Manitowoc, Wisconsin:

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