What's not to understand? Presumably, Google's bean counters think the cost of capital necessary to purchase the building plus any real estate value appreciati

What's not to understand? Presumably, Google's bean counters think the cost of capital necessary to purchase the building plus any real estate value appreciation will be lower than the cost to lease the building. That part seems pretty strait-forward. Or are you not understanding why they don't "just" have everyone work remotely? If that's the case, then try to understand that despite what you may see online, it may be that many people don't want to work remote all the time. Moreover, working remotely will have deleterious effects on managerial promotion as that is heavily influenced by interpersonal relationships. And higher level managers are the ones that make such decisions. Even if remote work is better for the bottom line, remember that people make decisions to benefit themselves (across a variety of dimensions and timeframes), not their organization.