111 Eighth Avenue facts for kids
Quick facts for kids 111 Eighth Avenue |
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Eighth Avenue facade of 111 Eighth Avenue (2011)
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| Former names |
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| General information | |
| Type | Multi-use |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| Location | Chelsea, Manhattan |
| Address | 111 Eighth Avenue |
| Town or city | New York City, New York |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 40°44′29″N 74°0′11″W / 40.74139°N 74.00306°W |
| Current tenants | |
| Completed | 1932 |
| Owner | |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 18 |
| Floor area | 2,900,000 square feet (270,000 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Lusby Simpson |
| Architecture firm | Abbott, Merkt & Co. |
111 Eighth Avenue is a huge building in New York City. It is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The building is between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, and 15th and 16th Streets. It was built in 1932 and has a special Art Deco design.
This building is one of the biggest in New York City. It has about 2.9 million square feet of space. That's like 50 football fields! In 2014, it was the fourth largest building in the city. It used to be the largest until 1963.
Since 2010, the building has been owned by Google. It is one of the largest office buildings in the world owned by a technology company. It's even bigger than Apple Park, which is Apple's headquarters.
Contents
A Building for Transporting Goods
The building was designed by Lusby Simpson. It was finished in 1932. When it first opened, it had many uses. The first floor and basement were called "Union Inland Terminal #1". This area was used to move goods. Trucks would bring items to and from railroad lines and shipping docks.
The building had four huge freight elevators. These elevators were strong enough to carry fully loaded 20-ton trucks! The second floor was for exhibitions. The upper floors were used for making things.
The Port Authority built the Union Inland Terminal. It was a large warehouse and a central station. It helped handle smaller shipments of goods. This helped reduce traffic at the busy shipping piers and railroad lines nearby.
Busy Times for the Terminal
In the 1930s, the terminal was very busy. The Port Authority said it handled more than half of the smaller freight shipments in lower Manhattan. Over 8,000 tons of goods passed through it every month. One day in 1937, 650 trucks used the building.
Many different railroads used the terminal. These included the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad.
The building was designed as a warehouse. This allowed it to be built very large. It didn't have to follow some rules that made other skyscrapers smaller. So, even though it's only 15 stories tall, it has more usable space than the 102-story Empire State Building. Each floor is larger than two football fields!
Other big projects were built nearby at that time. These included the High Line and the Starrett–Lehigh Building.
Becoming the Port Authority Headquarters
The original plan was to build more inland freight terminals. But how goods were transported changed. Freight railroads became less important in Manhattan. By 1947, the building's first job was mostly over.
It then became known as the Port Authority Building. It served as the main office for the Port Authority. This lasted until the World Trade Center opened in 1970.
Entering the Digital Age
For many years, the building was used as a warehouse. But in 1998, a company called Taconic Investment Partners bought it.
Taconic started to rent out space for new internet businesses. They marketed it as a "carrier hotel." A carrier hotel is a place where many different internet companies connect their networks. This happened as the Chelsea neighborhood around the building also became very popular.
Google's Home in New York
In 2010, Google bought the entire building. Google had already been renting space there. The deal was worth about $1.9 billion.
The building has a special "meet-me room." This room is where different internet companies connect their cables and equipment. It used to be the biggest one in New York City.
111 Eighth Avenue is also next to important "dark fiber" lines. These are unused fiber optic cables that can carry a lot of internet data. Some people thought Google might use this to offer its own internet service, Google Fiber, in New York City. However, Google has said it has no plans for Google Fiber in New York.
In 2013, a new school called Cornell NYC Tech started classes in the building. Google provided the space for them. The school stayed there until it moved to its new campus in 2017.
Even though Google bought this huge building, it still needed more space. It couldn't break the leases with some of the other companies renting there. These included Nike and the Bank of New York. So, Google started renting more space across the street in the Chelsea Market building. In 2018, Google bought the Chelsea Market building too.
Companies Inside
Some other notable companies that have offices in 111 Eighth Avenue include:
- Atlantic Theater Company
- DigitalOcean
See also
In Spanish: 111 Eighth Avenue para niños
