Bloomberg Sets Up Campaign HQ In Times Square: Report

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg may not have a ton of voters backing his 2020 campaign for president, but he does have a lot of cash, and he's not shy about spending it.

Bloomberg has locked down real estate in the former New York Times building on West 43rd Street for his campaign headquarters, Politico first reported. As the business titan-turned-politician's campaign staff swells past 300 employees, Bloomberg needs to relocate the team from the Bloomberg Philanthropies office, according to the report.

The campaign office will utilize an open floor plan with a central desk for Bloomberg, who prefers to be among his employees rather than sequestered in his own office, Politico reported.

Bloomberg announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential primary in November by releasing an ad campaign and launching an official website. His initial ad push cost about $39 million to air the announcement ad in states around the country. He has not participated in any of the democratic presidential debates.

In the days following his announcement, Bloomberg apologized for the NYPD "stop and frisk" policy that was heavily used during his three terms in office. He appeared at Brooklyn's Christian Cultural Center where he told the congregation that while the goal had been "saving lives," too many innocent people got caught up in the process and that, looking back, the policy had been wrong.

Since his announcement, Bloomberg has joined other middle-of-the-pack candidates. The political polling site RealClear Politics has his national polling average around 5 percent, which puts him in fifth place behind front runners Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. He is polling better than Sen. Amy Klobuchar, businessman Andrew Yang and the race's other billionaire Tom Steyer, according to the RCP polling average.

Read the full Politico report here.