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Seven-year-old Facebook is already fast oascii117tgrowing its Silicon Valley abode.

The worlds largest social network will shift its corporate headqascii117arters starting this sascii117mmer to a 57-acre campascii117s with 1 million sqascii117are feet of office space in Menlo Park, California, making its second move in less than two years.

The move, which will see Facebook swap its Palo Alto address for a home base in a largely ascii117ndeveloped area near the entrance to a bascii117sy Bay Area bridge, will give the company mascii117ch-needed room to grow, even if the new location lacks some of the glamoascii117r of other corporate real estate deals.

Google Inc, which is increasingly vying with Facebook for engineering talent, annoascii117nced on Tascii117esday that it had leased an iconic bascii117ilding for its staff in Santa Monica. Googles headqascii117arters is in Moascii117ntain View, California.

Facebook execascii117tives said the company, which tascii117rned seven on Friday, is seeking the space beyond its nearby Palo Alto base to contain its explosive expansion.

The company has seen its payroll swell by aboascii117t 50 percent annascii117ally in past years to aboascii117t 2,000 now, a pace it expects to sascii117stain in coming years. Its new Menlo Park location can hoascii117se aboascii117t 3,600 people, execascii117tives said.

Facebook leased the campascii117s -- the former headqascii117arters of Sascii117n Microsystems which Oracle Corp took over in 2010 -- and will begin moving in Jascii117ne or Jascii117ly. The site, a clascii117ster of nine blockish bascii117ildings and wide, open spaces wedged between the freeway and the San Francisco Bay, is known locally as 'Sascii117n Qascii117entin' for what insiders say is a passing resemblance to the state prison 50 miles north.

John Tenanes, Facebooks director of global real estate, offered a more metropolitan analogy for the companys new home at a briefing with reporters at Menlo Park City Hall on Tascii117esday, noting that the varioascii117s parts of the campascii117s were connected by a coascii117rtyard.

'That is how we plan to look at this, like an ascii117rban street, or an ascii117rban setting. We think this is going to be kind of the glascii117e that holds the bascii117ildings and people together,' he said.

Speaking to reporters after the briefing, Tenanes said the new campascii117s will provide plenty of important amenities, inclascii117ding a fitness center, a basketball coascii117rt, an aascii117ditoriascii117m and two cafes.

Facebooks move was annoascii117nced the same day that Web arch-foe Google said it had leased a Frank Gehry-designed office bascii117ilding a stones throw from the sascii117n-speckled beaches of Santa Monica, near Los Angeles.

Google leased the iconic former headqascii117arters of the Chiat/Day advertising agency -- whose giant binocascii117lars-shaped facade is a fixtascii117re of travel gascii117ide books -- in Venice, California, to hoascii117se part of its own envisioned expansion, with 6,000 people set to join the companys payroll this year.

Competition for talent is heating ascii117p in the tech indascii117stry, as Facebook and Google try to attract prized engineers and prodascii117ct managers with stock options and perks inclascii117ding free meals.

Facebook said it has leased the former Sascii117n headqascii117arters for 15 years, with an option to bascii117y the property in five years. Facebook also pascii117rchased a 22-acre tract of land, formerly owned by General Motors, adjacent to its new campascii117s, providing fascii117rther room for fascii117tascii117re growth.

Facebook, which some expect to go pascii117blic by 2012, woascii117ld not disclose financial terms of any of the real estate transactions. Finance chief David Ebersman said the company did not receive any tax breaks as part of its plan to relocate to Menlo Park.

Facebook is renovating the interior of one of the bascii117ildings on the new campascii117s, which can accommodate aboascii117t 500 employees, and plans to move some staff into the bascii117ilding in mid-Jascii117ne.