Google signs lease for office space near downtown Detroit

DETROIT – Technology giant Google is opening an office in a planned office, retail and residential development just north of downtown Detroit.

The Mountain View, California-based company and Ilitch Holdings, Inc., in Detroit announced Monday that a lease has been signed for more than 29,000 square feet (2,700 sq. meters) of space alongside the new Little Caesars Arena.

The arena is home to the NBA’s Pistons and NHL’s Red Wings. Ilitch Holdings says Google is projected to be the first tenant in the 50-block District Detroit.

More than 100 Google employees are expected to work there when it opens next spring. Its media sales and technical support staff currently works in Google’s Birmingham location, north of Detroit. Google has more than 600 Michigan employees at offices in Birmingham and Ann Arbor.