Google to open Beverly Hills office
Reporting from San Francisco -- Google Inc. is opening an office for its entertainment division in Beverly Hills.
The Internet search giant will occupy more than 13,000 square feet in a city-owned building. The City Council approved the 11-year lease agreement, valued at $6.3 million, at a meeting Tuesday.
“The location in our emerging entertainment business district is a perfect fit both for Google and for the city,” Beverly Hills Mayor Barry Brucker said in a statement.
Google will move into its new digs by year’s end. The office will house employees from YouTube and Google, said a person familiar with the situation who did not want to be named because he was not authorized to comment.
Other tenants in the Foothill Road building include film and TV production company Participant Media and Beverly Hills’ cable station. Nearby neighbors include AOL Inc. and Netflix Inc.
This is Google’s second major real estate deal in the Los Angeles area this year. In January it signed a lease for more than 100,000 square feet in the Frank Gehry-designed Binoculars Building in Venice.
A Google spokesman declined to comment.
Google is looking to establish a greater presence in Los Angeles as people begin to watch more online video on their televisions. In October, the company launched Google TV to present the Web, search and apps, as well as video offerings, on consumer televisions.
