When Google (GOOGL) first moved to 111 Eighth Ave. in Chelsea, developers expected to see the neighborhood turn into another Silicon Alley, with office tenants providing ancillary services to the tech giant. But that’s not quite what happened. Instead, what Chelsea got in the vicinity of the GOOG were condos, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Laura Kusisto, and the developers are attempting to mimic some of Google’s funky, hip, startup-style design tics.
At one point, a Harlan Berger of Centaur Properties was planning to build a “Google House” across the street from Google New York. Due to zoning restrictions, that plan never materialized. But another building of Mr. Berger’s, the black, angular condo building at 305 W. 16th, is attracting Googlers with families who want to live close to work. “Mr. Berger said he has sought to help offset a masculine feel of the design by purchasing a 38-foot daisy flowerpot weighing more than 6,000 pounds to sit in the building’s rooftop garden.”
But dude, you’re doin’ it wrong. “To attract more tech-savvy buyers, the developer plans to offer several tech features, including an iPhone app that would allow residents to talk to the doorman remotely,” the WSJ says. You mean Android app, right?
