Ever since DCN ran a story about Facebook potentially setting up offices in Kitchener’s Breithaupt Block development (link) people all over Waterloo Region have been talking about it.

570 News is running a story (below) in which they say they’ve confirmed that Facebook is coming to town.  At the moment, the only source for this is ” the company doing the work on the building.”

The Record is reporting

“Tony D’Angelo, of AIM Environmental Group, led the cleanup of the site that included the removal of 18 underground storage tanks.

D’Angelo said Facebook’s move to Kitchener was openly talked about at the job site, but nobody at the city, Facebook, the company redeveloping the buildings or the high-tech community could confirm it.”

Other commercial REALTORs I’ve spoken too have also heard the rumours but nothing concrete.  The brokerage team that acted for Facebook in their recent Toronto lease is tight lipped, according to a friend who spoke with them.

In search of confirmation, I reached out to a friend of mine at Facebook who told me they spoke to “[people in California] and haven’t heard anything about a move to Kitchener. Seems to be just a rumour.”

So, we shall see.  Certainly great news for Kitchener Waterloo if it materializes!

Facebook “Likes” Kitchener

570 News has confirmed that Facebook will be setting up an office in Kitchener at the Breithaupt Block that’s currently being re-developed.

The author of an article in a construction industry newspaper tells 570 News the company doing the work on the building indicated that it’s for the world’s largest social media website.

Benjamin Bach, a commercial Realtor with Keller Williams tells 570 News he’s heard the rumour for some time now.  

“They want to have a presence here in the Region, so I haven’t been able to confirm directly with Facebook, although I did reach out to somebody in California earlier that they are coming here, but it definitely fits with what we’ve been hearing in the rumours, as well as some the moves that the other global tech giants have been making.”

Bach says the location would be perfect for the company and has a lot of character.

“It’s right at King and Breithaupt so it’s just a block off from the planned Regional transit center as well as the University of Waterloo pharmacy school and the McMaster Health Science and the Tannery, so it’s really right it the heart of the innovation district.”

The Breithaupt building site has 175 thousand square feet of office space. The Stoney Creek company that’s taking care of the environmental abatement tells the construction industry newspaper its being  asked to create three swaths right through the building, then prepare the structure for small outdoor courtyards that will be built inside the block of buildings.

Benjamin Bach says based on the tech sector here in Waterloo Region and intellectual capacity from the Universities it the only make sense.

“This is just part of a trend we’re seeing of retail and office tenants wanting to have a presence here in Waterloo Region. Hopefully we’ll be seeing Mark Zuckerberg here in the Region in the next couple of years.”

There is no time line as to when the company would open its doors for business. The social media company’s head office is in Toronto.