Search engine giant Google Inc. is set to establish a major presence in downtown Austin, with plans to lease more than 200,000 square feet of a 29-story office tower being built as part of the redevelopment of the site that once housed the Thomas C. Green Water Treatment Plant.

Gerardo Interiano, public affairs and government relations manager for California-based Google, confirmed the lease in a written statement Friday.

“Since 2007, hundreds of Googlers have lived and worked in Austin, enjoying all the city has to offer from our trails to our festivals, to countless breakfast tacos,” Interiano said in the written statement, issued through Austin-based Elizabeth Christian Public Relations. “As a result of our recent growth, we are excited to share that Google Austin has signed a lease for over 200,000 square feet at the new Green Water Treatment Plant redevelopment at 500 West 2nd Street.”

An artist’s rendering of the office tower to be built at the site of the former Thomas C. Green Water Treatment Plant in downtown Austin. Search engine giant Google Inc. says it will lease more than 200,000 square feet in the office building.CREDIT: Gensler Austin

Google did not say if the lease indicates plans to increase its employee numbers in Austin. The company has declined to release its current Austin headcount. Worldwide, the company has more than 50,000 employees.

Niki Christoff, a director of corporate communications for Google in Washington, D.C., said the company would not be making any additional comments beyond the written statement.

Google currently has three Austin locations, on North Mopac Boulevard (Loop 1), at University Park just north of downtown, and its Google Fiber space in what was formerly the Austin Children’s Museum downtown. The new space will consolidate the employees on North Mopac and University Park, while Google Fiber will remain at the Children’s Museum location three blocks from the new site, Interiano said.

On its website, Google says this about its Austin operations: “Ever since we opened our office in the music capital of the world, we’ve been infusing a little bit of Austin in all we do — from the conference rooms named for musicians to the Airstream trailer that serves as our front lobby desk. We mostly focus on sales, marketing and staffing, and like most of Google, we’re growing fast, with new, Texan-sized opportunities opening up all the time.”

The new office tower where Google will lease space will have almost 490,000 square feet of office space and just over 11,000 square feet restaurant and retail space on the ground floor. It is due to be completed in early 2017.

The office building where Google will locate is under construction marks the second phase of Trammell Crow’s development, which is transforming the former Green Water industrial site into a mix of residences, offices, hotel rooms, shops and restaurants. The site is bounded by San Antonio, Nueces, Second and Cesar Chavez streets.