The Facebook offices have been a defining feature of downtown Palo Alto for a few years. Facebook and its young employees represent the forward thinking at the heart of Palo Alto's identity. It makes sense that the headquarters for a company that has totally revolutionized the way our kids communicate set its roots down here. But now the forerunner in online social networking is abandoning its downtown post and moving to a 137,000 sq ft site formerly occupied by Hewlett Packard in Stanford Research Park.
The new location is two stories, and has a full cafeteria and a roof top patio. It remains to be seen how the company's relocation from downtown will affect restaurants and cafe's near Facebook's old Hamilton Ave. offices. Facebook's move doesn't mean much for Palo Alto as a city--the offices are only moving a mile or so away after all, and the company's expansion (cited as the reason behind the move) in the coming years can only mean good news for Palo Alto's economy and real estate market. The move is scheduled to take place early next year.
How does Facebook feel? In an article in from InsideBayArea.com by Will Oremus, a Facebook spokesperson says, "We have loved our time in downtown Palo Alto and consider it part of the DNA here at Facebook. Many of our employees live in the area and will continue to be a part of the downtown community."
No comments:
Post a Comment