AI Firm Expands In Move To One World Trade: The N.Y. Deal Sheet
America's tallest building has a new occupant.
Scale AI has signed a sublease deal for 80K SF on the 74th and 75th floors of One World Trade Center, Commercial Observer reported.
The subtenant, which provides training data for artificial intelligence applications, plans to relocate from its 27K SF at 218 W. 18th St., a 12-story Chelsea office building owned by a subsidiary of Columbia Property Trust.
Scale AI is taking the space from AI-powered marketing service Wunderkind in The Durst Organization- and Port Authority-owned, 104-story tower. Asking rents for the space were $65 per SF, and the sublease agreement runs until January 2030.
Other tenants in the building include law firm Frier Levitt and BNY. The property was 95% leased almost a year ago, but anchor tenant Condé Nast has been shedding tracts of space in other sublease agreements.
Eddie Sisca and David Opper of CBRE represented Scale AI in the deal. CBRE’s David Hollander represented Wunderkind, alongside Savills’ Scott Bogetti and Will Joumas.
The deal comes as AI firms take increasing amounts of space in New York City’s office market. AI companies leased almost double their 2023 volume in Manhattan in the first three quarters of this year alone, racking up 486K SF in leases, according to Savills data provided to Bisnow.
TOP LEASES
Tishman Speyer inked a 14K SF renewal and expansion deal with private equity and structured investments firm Palistar Capital at 45 Rockefeller Plaza. The company previously had 8K SF in the Rockefeller Center, where it has been since 2019. CBRE’s Silvio Petriello and Tim Freydberg represented Palistar, while Blythe Kinsler, Samantha Augarten and Ben Epstein represented Tishman Speyer in-house.
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Law firm Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith signed for 70K SF at Union Investment’s 140 Broadway, the New York Business Journal reported. Two hundred lawyers are expected to occupy three floors next year. The law firm has been at Silverstein's 7 World Trade Center on a temporary basis as it hunted for a new home after leaving 77 Water St. in the Financial District to make way for Vanbarton Group’s residential conversion, The Real Deal reported.
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Chelsea Piers Management signed a 49K SF lease at GFP Real Estate’s 200 Varick St., Commercial Observer reported. The parent company of the Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex hasn’t announced its plans for the new space. Office tenants in the building include Architectural Partnership Atelier and video content platform Momenti.
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Nonprofit media organization WNET Group is relocating to Sage’s 437 Madison Ave., Commercial Observer reported. WNET signed for 32K SF for a 16-year term. The tenant is the parent company of PBS’ Channel 13, WLIW21, NJ PBS and more. It will relocate from the troubled Worldwide Plaza tower in spring or summer next year. Other tenants in 437 Madison include staffing company Insight Global, PNC Bank and Santander Bank. JLL’s Frank Doyle, David Kleiner, Margaux Kelleher, Andrew Coe and Michael Pallas represented the landlord in addition to Sage’s in-house representation, Michael Lenchner and Jack Brennan. Robert Lowe, Nicholas Dysenchuk, Carri Lyon and Jon Herman of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant.
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LGBTQIA+ healthcare provider Callen-Lorde has signed a 17K SF lease to relocate its Bronx community health center, Commercial Observer reported. Callen-Lorde will move from 3144 Third Ave. to 555 Bergen Ave. in summer 2026. The tenant has a Chelsea facility at 356 W. 18th St., as well as a Brooklyn outpost. Callen-Lorde had representation in its Bronx deal from Cushman & Wakefield’s Carri Lyon and Jenna Catalon. The landlord, family office JJ Operating Real Estate Investment, was represented in-house by Joe and David Jemal.
TOP SALES
Japan-based developer Tokyu Land Corp. has acquired a Chinatown apartment building at 10 Rutgers St. for $56.2M, according to a deed filed with the city Monday. The signatory was Maurice Kaufman, managing principal of national real estate investment firm AMAC. The deal is for an 87.4% stake in the property, PincusCo reported.
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A Williamsburg-based LLC, 6201 BSD, has sold a 151K SF Class-B office building at 6201 15th Ave. in Borough Park for $42.3M, Crain’s New York Business reported. The buyer of the four-story property was an entity called 15th Avenue Realty, with George Lebovits, who appears to be the owner of Ahava Medical, signing the deed. The price is more than $14M higher than the $29.5M the building last sold for in 2019. The sale also includes an 8K SF parking lot at 6310 15th Ave. Both lots are zoned for light manufacturing in addition to commercial and community uses.
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Seastone Capital and Greenmont Group, two NYC-based real estate investment companies, have acquired a Prospect Heights apartment building for $21.5M, Commercial Observer reported. The six-story, 56-unit building at 364 Lincoln Place was sold by Novel Property Ventures, which acquired it for $23.5M in 2016 and scored a $15M refinancing loan from JPMorgan Chase in 2020. Aaron Jungreis, Ben Khakshoor and Alex Fuchs of Rosewood Realty Group brokered the deal.
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Vadem Brodsky has acquired 38-44 State St. in Brooklyn Heights for $15M, PincusCo reported. The seller was an entity called Wolf, with Pamela Wolf, Jeffrey Wolf, Kevin Wolf and Brandon Wolfe signing for the buyer. The historic building, a former trolley powerhouse turned one-story parking garage, has been at the center of a controversial plan to raze it and replace it with a five-story condominium, Brownstoner previously reported. The building’s facade should be maintained, the Landmarks Preservation Commission said in July when the developer filed plans. The sale closed in late September and hit property records Friday. The acquisition is Brodsky’s third in the past two years, with the previous purchases totaling $15M.
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JP Real Estate Group Ltd. has acquired a SoHo rental for $17M, PincusCo reported. The seller of the 22-unit building at 75-77 Thompson St. was Peak Capital Advisors, which bought the property in January 2024 for $10M. JP Real Estate Group is a Cayman Islands-based company, but its ownership is in Japan.
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Slate Property Group acquired an 11-unit residential building at 81-83 Franklin St. in Tribeca for $28.1M, PincusCo reported. The seller was Francis Moezinia. Slate also scored a $30M refinancing loan from White Oak Financial for the property.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
An affiliate of Acumen Capital Partners LLC refinanced a Brooklyn industrial and manufacturing property at 630 Flushing Ave. with a $125M loan from Värde Partners. The property was originally developed more than 100 years ago as Pfizer’s headquarters and is 88% leased. Acumen has owned the property since 2011, when it purchased it from Pfizer for $19M, public records show. CBRE’s Jason Gaccione and Jake Salkovitz arranged the three-year, floating-rate loan.
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Bank of America provided a $68.8M refinancing loan to Joel Schwartz for 2700 Atlantic Ave., a 233-unit residential building in East New York, PincusCo reported. The financing replaces a $42M sum from Golden Bridge Funding. Schwartz has owned the building since 2022, when he bought it for $17M.
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Vaja Group scored a $31.5M loan to refinance 2077 Ryer Ave., a 93-unit residential building in Fordham Heights, PincusCo reported. The debt comes from Amalgamated Bank and replaces a $25.6M mortgage from NorthEast Community Bank.
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Manhattan Skyline Management netted a $25M refinancing loan from JPMorgan Chase for a 147-unit residential building at 336 Broadway in Civic Center, PincusCo reported. JPMorgan was also the previous lender, with the new loan replacing and partially paying down the prior $29M mortgage.
CORRECTION, OCT. 17, 2:30 P.M. ET: A previous version of this story misstated the address of Manhattan Skyline Management's apartment building. This story has been updated.
