Google has big plans for expansion in Texas.
The tech giant has leased two new office spaces in the city of Austin. The first lease is for 150,000 square feet of space at the Saltillo office building in East Austin (pictured above). The second lease is for the entire Block 185 building, a 35-story sail-like tower with 723,000 square feet of space in downtown Austin (pictured below).
Google already has over 1,100 employees in Austin and it plans to hire even more, giving the company a serious appetite for office space. Google said it will begin moving employees into the Saltillo building in early 2020. Meanwhile, Block 185 is still being built. Google anticipates moving into that building in 2023.
Google Austin Office Locations
But Google’s Texas plans don’t stop there. The company is also developing a $600 million data center in Midlothian, just south of Dallas. The data center will host servers and hardware for billions of Gmail, YouTube and other Google app users from all over the world. This project will create hundreds of construction jobs and an unspecified number of full-time Google jobs.
In addition to the data center, Google announced a $100,000 grant to the Midlothian Independent School District to support the region’s STEM curriculum.
Google has had roots in Texas ever since it opened its first Austin office in 2007, but other large tech companies have been expanding their presence here, too: Apple is developing a $1 billion campus in North Austin. Amazon is adding 800 jobs in Austin. And Facebook is leasing new construction projects as well.
“The Lone Star State continues its emergence as a global technology hub thanks to an economic environment that encourages innovation and allows the free market to flourish,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement about Google’s expansion. “Time and again, companies like Google choose to invest in Texas because of our business-friendly practices and our talented workforce.”
