GOOGLE is planning to expand in Singapore, going by market talk that it plans to boost its real estate footprint on the island.

The tech giant is understood to be in advanced talks to lease close to 400,000 sq ft at Alexandra Technopark, which is next to Mapletree Business City II, where Google occupies about 500,000 sq ft.

Market watchers note that Mapletree Business City II, which has a total net lettable area of about 1.2 million sq ft and owned by Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd, is nearly fully let, leaving Google to consider the next-door Alexandra Technopark as a possible location for its expansion.

The space that Google has been offered by Alexandra Techopark's owner, Frasers Commercial Trust (FCOT), is largely the area that has been vacated by HP, when it moved to 1 and 1A Depot Close, which was completed in phases in 2016 and 2017.

The 1 and 1A Depot Close facility was purpose-built for HP by Mapletree Industrial Trust.

If Google agrees to lease the space at Alexandra Technopark, the development, which has a net lettable area of slightly more than one million sq ft, would be more than 90 per cent committed.

Alexandra Technopark, which is on a site zoned for Business 1 use, has two high-specification blocks. As part of a recent S$45 million asset enhancement exercise, a new amenity hub has been created with food and beverage outlets, futsal courts, end-of-trip facilities and exercise areas among other offerings.

For the two main blocks too, the interior common area such as the lift lobbies and toilets have also been refurbished - resulting in a more contemporary, vibrant business campus-type setting.

Market watchers expect Google to pay a rental of about S$4 per square foot a month if it signs up at Alexandra Technopark.

Industry observers reckon Google is probably paying in the region of S$6 psf for its space at Mapletree Business City II, which is on a site zoned for "Business Park" use and slightly closer to the Labrador Park MRT Station.

According to industry sources, Google is boosting its presence and offerings in Singapore in areas including big data analytics, machine learnign, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and other emerging technologies.

The Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a major player today and competes with the likes of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and IBM Cloud.

FCOT's spruce-up of Alexandra Technopark is in sync with the transformation of the Alexandra precinct which has seen an upgrading of tenant profiles with the rise of better-quality buildings - catalysed by the completion of Mapletree Business City's first phase back in 2010, followed by the second phase in 2016.

The Mapletree Business City complex offers many attractions: a spread of F&B outlets (including Harry's, Starbucks and PastaMania), food courts, meeting facilities, an auditorium and a host of sports facilities. Fitness First is a tenant, offering a gymnasium with an outdoor heated pool overlooking the sea.