It’s so big, you won’t even need Google Maps to find it. Internet search engine Google Inc. has a new home in New York: a 300,000-square foot, three-floor office that covers a Manhattan city block.The company welcomed its 500-plus local employees to the office Monday, its first official day of business. While Mountain View, Calif.-based Google has had employees in New York in advertising sales since 2000 and in engineering since 2003, it said the new office is a step up.

“We outgrew our old space,” said Craig Nevill-Manning, the company’s engineering director.

The company now has three floors in a building that stretches from Eighth Avenue to Ninth Avenue and from 15th Street to 16th Street, a few blocks west of Union Square. The workspace is light and airy and built around the concept of working in teams, with people sharing offices and cubicles connected in groups. Along with a cafeteria and a game room, there are snack stations throughout the office.

Google receptionist Lee Stimmel works at the front desk in the company’s new office space Monday, Oct. 2, 2006 in New York. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company has 8,000 employees worldwide, with 500 in its New York facility. There also are a number of conference rooms named after New York landmarks including Alice Tully Hall, the Cloisters and the Apollo Theater.

The office space was built to Google’s specifications and the company had a long-term lease, said Tim Armstrong, vice president of advertising sales. He declined to say how long that was or how much the project cost.

Nevill-Manning said there are about 100 projects being worked on in the office. The New York office was the origin point for the project that became Google Maps.

Source: AP

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In addition to the snack bars, the new offices house a small cafeteria. Here employees can take advantage of a salad bar, dessert table, prepared hot dishes and ready-made sandwiches. Google also plans to open a full cafe on the eighth floor of the building in November that will offer employees an even greater variety of food options. Google employs a full-time chef and kitchen staff.

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