We have had huge debates about the future of work - will we work from home, will we work from the office or maybe we will work somewhere?
Well, Facebook he stopped betting, and it's work from the office.
During a barrage of articles in the local press at night, the New York Times and others confirmed that Facebook had secured the lease of the main office on the James A. Farley Building, located one block south of Penn Station, in the western part of Midtown Manhattan. The company's lease was 730,000 square feet, which will be added to the company's current 2.2 million square feet which includes 770 Broadway, ProWellTech's New York headquarters and those of our parent company Verizon Media.
It is a statement about the future of the Farley Building, which is today the centerpiece of the postal service operations in New York. The building has long been at the center of plans for the renovation of Penn Station, with its stunning facade bordering Eighth Avenue which many designers believed could be the location for a new entrant to Grand Central Station after Penn Original station was demolished decades ago. After decades of debate, a new Amtrak passenger lounge and platform and Long Island Rail Road are slated to open in 2021.
Facebook joins several other tech companies in the neighborhood. Google's New York City headquarters is at the bottom of Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, which was an equally massive operation when Google purchased the former Port Authority building in one of the largest real estate deals in New York's history. York City in 2010. Datadog, one of New York's best performing IPOs, is right at the bottom of Eighth Avenue in the New York Times headquarters building. Meanwhile, Amazon has its headquarters a few blocks east.
While certainly a strong indication that New York City's tech scene remains vibrant, the move is curious given the broad movement of the tech sector towards remote work in recent months. Facebook itself said it will allow remote work in the future and will also build more regional hubs in cities like Dallas. From our May article, "The Facebook CEO estimated that over the next decade, half the company could work remotely."
The Facebook rumors that they are taking the Farley building have persisted since last year, and it was even believed that Apple was observing the position to expand its ... Big Apple presence.
Office space of this size and caliber is difficult to find, which is why Facebook has pulled the trigger now instead of waiting for more information related to COVID-19's long-term effects on the future of work. However, the company seems clear in its mentality: workers will have more space to get into work, perhaps with some more flexible work arrangements on the side.
