Google's new building

The 18-story Chelsea building at 111 Eighth Ave October 27, 2010 in New York. Google said December 22, 2010 that it had purchased the building to house its more than 2,000-strong workforce in the city. Google did not announce a purchase price, but the New York Post put the cost at 1.77 billion dollars. The newspaper said the final price, including transfer taxes and assorted other fees, could be 1.9 billion dollars. "Google New York started in a Starbucks on 86th Street with one person in 2000 -- a scrappy, highly-caffeinated sales 'team,'" said David Radcliffe, Google's vice president for real estate and workplace services.