Huge Lease for GoogleNet at 111 Eighth Ave.

Google has leased 270,000 square feet of space at 111 Eighth Avenue, one of the largest carrier hotels in Manhattan, according to Real Estate Weekly and the New York Post. The enormous lease is the most visible sign yet of the GoogleNet, the long-rumored national IP backbone Google is stitching together from its bulk purchases of dark fiber. In recent weeks Google has begun to take the wraps off its ambitions for a range of IP-based services, including VoIP, chat, video-on-demand and WiFi Internet access. The reported lease at 111 Eighth shows that the construction of such "alt-Nets" could become a significant driver of leasing for data centers and telecom hotels. Industry veterans quoted in thePost story are impressed:

Newby has seen a few networks in his day, as his company runs a major interconnection center in New York's other high-profile telecom hotel at 60 Hudson Street. Link via GigaOm.