Google buys Chelsea Market in $2.4bn deal

Google bought New York City's Chelsea Market from Jamestown for $2.4bn. The buyer already occupies a vast majority of the 1.18 million sq ft complex. The building used to house a Nabisco factory and occupies a full city block bound by Ninth and 10th avenues between 15th and 16th streets. Best known for its ground-floor food hall, the market is visited by more than 500,000 people per month. In 2012, as part of a broader effort to add to the city’s inventory of available office space needed to support the recovery of New York’s economy following the global recession of 2008, the city approved a 300,000 sq ft addition. Jamestown will continue to manage the retail and food hall on behalf of Google.

“For Jamestown, this is the highest profile example to date of our unique approach to creating value, but it’s consistent with transformative projects we’ve successfully undertaken across the country,” said Michael Phillips, president of Jamestown. “It’s a combination of identifying underutilized locations, creative and visionary repositioning, value-creating management, rigorous financial analysis, and patience.”