Google to fork out $1bn on new NYC campus, one week on from Apple’s splurge in Texas

Alphabet's Google will invest more than $1bn (£793.6m) on building a new campus in New York, following in the footsteps of fellow tech giant Amazon in picking the US financial capital for expansion.

Named Google Hudson Square, the new 1.7m square foot campus will consist of leased properties on New York’s technology corridor. The company said it has its hopes set on moving into the building by 2022.

The announcement follows a similar move made by tech giant Apple last week, which said it will splurge the same amount on expanding its existing campus in Austin, Texas, and building five new data centres in the US.

Amazon similarly chose New York for one half of its upcoming second headquarters last month, in a race that saw Crystal City in Virginia also beat other US favourites for the spot.

Each of the new tech campuses are expected to create thousands of jobs, with both Amazon and Apple intending to give birth to between 20,000 and 25,000 jobs each through their respective investments.

Though it gave no specific numbers, Google said its new campus will have the capacity to more than double its existing presence of over 7,000 employees over the next 10 years.

Google bought one of the city’s largest buildings on Eighth Avenue for its first New York office in 2010, spending $1.8bn. Earlier this year, it bought Manhattan Chelsea Market for $2.4bn, followed by a leased space on the Hudson river’s Pier 57.