Construction at Google’s planned new campus in Hudson Square has officially begun.

The northern sections of the St. John’s Terminal building have been demolished, signaling the beginning of what will be a gut renovation of the building and an addition of eight floors—a move that will bring the building’s height to 232 feet from 80 feet, according to permits on file.

Google‘s plans first took off when it closed a deal for 1.3 million square feet of office space with Oxford Properties Group in July—seven months after the company announced its initial plans for the building.

According to the floor schedule, the building will feature ground-floor retail, staff lockers, workshop and break rooms in the cellar, and a room for up to 237 bicycles.

The building, designed by CookFox Architects, features oversized floor plates of more than 100,000 square feet, and sweeping views of the Hudson River.

As part of the tech giant’s Hudson Square plan, the company will not only lease the terminal building at 550 Washington St. but also 315 and 345 Hudson St., which will bring the campus to 1.7 million square feet.

Westbrook Partners and Atlas Capital Group are to develop the northern end of the terminal, CityRealty reported, while Oxford will lead the work in preserving the first three floors of the building.

Oxford plans to incorporate the building’s first three floors into the millions of square feet that will encompass the new office building.

The developers plan to remove the overpass over Houston Street, allowing better views of the waterfront.

Google is set to become the city’s sixth-largest commercial tenant after its Hudson Square campus opens, according to data provided to Crain’s by Cushman & Wakefield, following the company’s announcement.

Earlier this year, Google acquired another property in Chelsea, extending its footprint between West 15th and 16th streets.

The renovation and addition to the terminal building is expected to be completed by 2022, while construction at the Hudson Street buildings is expected to be completed by next year.

The article was published on crainsnewyork.com