After thirteen years as the world's premier Internet Search Engine, Google has finally decided to get its own address. The company has hired a German architecture firm to undertake construction of its own office. With plans to add over 6,000 new employees just in 2011 alone, Google is in massive need of some new space. For over a decade, Google has leased its offices in Northern California, spread out between 65 different buildings in the Mountain View area. That number is more than double what it was in 2005, and the company expects to grow even more in the coming years as it makes dramatic staff increases. According to Mercury News, Google announced this week it plans to build its brand new headquarters on a property in Mountain View, California south of Palo Alto near the Moffett Federal Airfield. The Mountain View City Council approved the deal in late March, and Google is expected to make the $30 million upfront payment in June for a lease that will run for 53 years on half of the 18.6-acre city-owned site. Mountain View and Google had reached an agreement in 2007 to lease the other 9.2 acres, with Google paying an initial rent of $1.1 million a year. The two deals collectively allow Google to develop up to 595,000 square feet of office and research and development space. German firm Ingenhoven Architects, renowned for their large-scale environmentally-friendly projects and unique aesthetics, will reportedly design Google's new structure. Ingenhoven has designed buildings in Europe, Asia and Australia, including a tubular glass and steel structure for the new European Investment Bank headquarters in Luxembourg and a new zero-emission railway station in Stuttgart, Germany, that will require no heating, cooling or mechanical ventilation. "We've asked them to build the most green, sustainable building possible," a spokesman for Google told Mercury News. Google is not sharing any details, but city officials said preliminary plans could be filed later this month, with construction starting as early as 2012.

According to a new report released by the New York Building Congress this week, construction spending in New York City dropped by 12 percent last year, falling to its lowest level since 2005. Despite the city's economy slowly regaining jobs, builders cut back on residential housing and commercial office buildings during 2010. Overall spending on construction in New York City in 2010 was $23.7 billion compared to $27.1 billion in 2009. One potential reason for this drop could be the completion of two major construction projects in 2009, the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. Both sports arenas provided significant temporary boosts to New York's construction industry that leveled off after the projects wrapped up. Another reason is this, during the real-estate boom, the construction industry churned out 34,000 homes or apartments a year. Last year it produced only about 5,400. There was also a significant decrease in government spending on construction projects. In 2009 the combined government spending was $15.7 billion; however in 2010 only $13.5 billion was spent. The number of construction jobs in New York City fell by 8,900 in 2010, down to a total of 111,800. This was the lowest number of construction workers active in the city since 2004. It would have been even worse if not for a few large projects, including the World Trade Center and the new basketball arena at the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn. Since reaching its peak at over $31 billion in 2007, construction spending in New York City has dropped by 23 percent over the last four years. The New York Building Congress estimates that construction spending will level off at about $24 billion for 2011.

US and Britain property developers leave the "Vanity Fair". The world's leading developers are sacrificing height and glitz for better returns. "The age of bling is over," said Ken Shuttleworth, famous British architect (from Norman Foster). "Money now drives everything, so if you can build something for half the price, you will," he said. Construction of several skyscrapers in the City, will be completed, but they may be the last. Commercial Estates Group Ltd. and Hammerson Plc last month said that they will review a plan to build a 63-story building. Instead of it appears quite compact, 32-storey building. "A tall building was proving very expensive, so we went back to the drawing board", said Martin Jepson, Hammerson's managing director for London. Developers in New-York also change their plans. One World Trade Center, which will be the western hemisphere's tallest tower when it opens in 2013, is one of several skyscrapers that may be built by the end of the decade in New-York. Decrease of tendency explains with high costs of skyscrapers. In London, high-rise buildings cost 50 pounds to 150 pounds more per square foot than shorter ones. That means the money needed to construct a skyscraper with 500,000 square feet (46,000 square meters) of space can be 150 million pounds, twice as much as a lower-rise structure with the same space. Such difference is explained by the fact that high-rise construction requires special engineering solutions, including the development of a powerful frame, and often unusual architectural techniques. Tall buildings are also less attractive to investors than shorter ones because tenants can't start moving in until the construction work is over. So it takes a very long time to get the first money from your investment. But large-scale architectural projects are not everywhere losing out. Skyscrapers boom reaches end, but only in certain parts of the world. Now they support the most functional and "green " projects. However, in Asia, which shows a steady increase in GDP, in the next 20 years will be dominated by the idea that the building should be high and attractive. So, the architects will continue to design skyscrapers, but now in China, India or Arab states.

Famous Russian composer Igor Krutoy bought a luxury apartment in New York, at a famous Plaza Hotel with a panoramic view over Central Park. The apartment has about 557 square meters and cost more than $40 million. As Wall Street Journal reported, this is the second most expensive townhouse or apartment sold in New York since the start of financial crisis. But this estate is not the first real estate purchase of Krutoy in New York. In 2003 he purchased half of the 28th floor at the Chatham condominium (a 34-story condominium tower) for $6.1 million. Three years later he paid $7.4 million for the larger apartment next door. In April 2009 Krutoy put both apartments on the market together for just under $20 million and in June he sold the larger one for only $7 million. Note that a luxury apartment in New York is not the only "shelters" of Krutoys' family; they also have apartments in Moscow, houses in Miami and Yurmala.

Immediately before the New Year the famous Boston skyscraper, John Hancock Tower, was purchased by Boston Properties for US $ 930 million. The building was initially purchased at a foreclosure auction 18 months ago by Normandy Real Estate Partners and Five Mile Capital Partners for $660.6 million. The resale of the Hancock tower can be described as a brilliant deal, which could not occur without such a chaotic state of the real estate market in the U.S. Note that the famous skyscraper in 2006 cost about US $ 1.3 billion. The total area of floor space is about 158.000 sq. m. John Hancock, the 60 story tower with 241m in height, was built in 1976 and is still the tallest building in Boston. The building is designed by IM Pei & Partners, for which in 1977 the American Institute of Architecture presented the firm with a National Honor Award. According to experts, the glass walls of the Tower reflect its surroundings, do not interfere with it and are in harmony with the historic City of Boston. The same "glass experiment" IM Pei & Partners used when designing the glass pyramid in the middle of historic Louvre, which could not happen without criticism. The building is named after John Hancock (1737-1793) - the first governor of Massachusetts, a patriot of the American Revolution and the author of the stylish signature on the Declaration of Independence of America. Another building named after John Hancock is the Chicago's John Hancock Center, a 100-storey, 344m tall skyscraper.