Google is planning to develop a new headquarters in central London after acquiring a 2.4 acre plot of land at the Kings Cross Central development. The search giant’s new office, which will reportedly cover 1 million square-feet, will be worth a whopping £1 billion ($1.6 billion) when complete.

Google has confirmed the move, but the property developers behind the project revealed the details to Reuters. They did not disclose how much Google actually paid for the land, but according to another source, the company was investing £650 million ($1.03 billion) to buy and develop the site.

“This is a big investment by Google, we’re committing further to the UK – where computing and the web were invented. It’s good news for Google, for London and for the UK,” Google’s Vice President for Northern and Central Europe, Matt Brittin, said in a statement.

Google existing U.K. offices are located in the Victoria and Holborn districts of London, but staff in these offices will move into the new building when it’s complete. Construction is expected to start in late 2013, and Google hopes to have the project completed by 2016. The finished building will reportedly span between seven and eleven stories in height.

Google had traditionally leased offices overseas, but in the past two years, it has purchased offices in Paris, Dublin, and now London. Tax campaigner and accountant Richard Murphy believes that the company’s decision to purchase properties rather than rent them could be “tax motivated,” and driven by the fact that the company would have to pay a lot of tax on its cash if it was taken back to the U.S.

• SourceReuters