Google Inc. is taking about 90,000 square feet in the 696 Centre building on Farmington Road in Farmington Hills.

The Internet giant is expected to move an unknown number of employees into the 264,000-square-foot building just north of I-696 in the fourth quarter, according to a real estate source.

Ed Gardiner, director of planning and community development for Farmington Hills, said Google late Thursday afternoon filed an application for a building permit.

The company is expected to use the space for contracted employees.

The 696 Centre building, which is owned by Bloomfield Hills-based Alrig USA, was built in 1985 and will be about 90 percent leased when Google moves in.

According to CoStar Group Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service, the building rents for an average of $15.95 per square foot per year.

The lease comes one month after Google announced it will be moving into about 140,000 square feet of space outside of downtown Ann Arbor in the third or fourth quarter next year. The company will occupy a 67,000-square-foot building in the Traverwood Business Park north of Plymouth Road and west of Huron Parkway and build an additional building on the campus.

Google currently leases 85,000 square feet on the second through fifth floors of the 137,000-square-foot McKinley Towne Centre office building in Ann Arbor.

Alrig USA purchased the 696 Centre building for $2.1 million, or $7.95 per square foot, in 2012 from Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc., according to CoStar.

Jeff Bell, the CBRE Inc. senior vice president of office services who often represents Google locally, declined to comment.