WeWork Signs First NYC Coworking Lease Since 2019: The N.Y. Deal Sheet
After several turbulent years that included three different CEOs, a bankruptcy restructuring and a new owner stepping in, WeWork is firmly back on the scene.
The flexible workspace firm signed a 60K SF lease at 250 Broadway in the Financial District, its first new coworking deal in the country since its bankruptcy and first in New York City since 2019, it announced Monday.
WeWork will occupy Floors 24, 25 and 27-29 at the AmTrust RE-owned building. It expects to open the space in December.
The company has behaved like a more mature enterprise in the year since emerging from bankruptcy with Yardi Systems as its majority owner and former Cushman & Wakefield executive John Santora as its CEO. It had already signed two deals in Midtown since the bankruptcy, but both spaces will be fully occupied by Amazon.
But the 250 Broad space will be for traditional coworking, a sign that the company is back in growth mode after cutting hundreds of locations over the past five years. WeWork plans to invest between $80M and $100M in its global portfolio this year.
It is also seeing increased demand in New York City, with memberships increasing by 10% between January and April this year and footfall climbing by 6%. It operates more than 3M SF in the city.
“New York City holds immense value and opportunity for WeWork,” Santora said in a statement, calling it “one of the critical launchpads for our new era of strategic growth.”
CBRE’s Brad Gerla, Michael Rizzo and Alex Benisatto, as well as AmTrust RE’s Anne Holker, represented the landlord. JLL’s Peter Riguardi, Clark Finney, Alexander Riguardi and Dana Goldman, plus WeWork’s Peter Greenspan and Whitney Anderson, represented the tenant.
TOP LEASES
Engineering, development and management consultancy firm Mott MacDonald NY is moving its headquarters to a 25K SF floor at the Empire State Building. The firm will keep its 27K SF space at Empire State Realty Trust's 1400 Broadway in addition to its new digs at the REIT’s namesake tower. Colliers' Sheena Gohil, Jack Senske and Teresa DeLeo represented the tenant, while ESRT’s Shanae Ursini and Newmark’s Scott Klau, Erik Harris, Neil Rubin, Brent Ozarowski, Zachary Weil and Cole Gendels represented the landlord.
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MechoShade has renewed its 30K SF lease at J.B. Industries’ 35-02 Skillman Ave. The company uses the space in the three-story, 54K SF building for research and development of its solar shading systems. JLL was the sole broker on the transaction, with Paul Mas, Michael Mazzara and Paul Kauffman serving as the property’s leasing agents.
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Investment management company Invesco has renewed more than 200K SF at Brookfield Properties’ 225 Liberty St., according to a report from Savills. The building is one of five that make up the 2.5M SF Brookfield Place campus across from the World Trade Center.
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Law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison expanded its massive footprint at 1345 Sixth with an 85K SF sublease, according to Savills. The deal gives the law firm 850K SF in the building when accounting for its new space on the 29th and 30th floors, Commercial Observer reported. Asking rents in the deal were $87 per SF, according to a listing from Noah RE reported by CO. The last known tenant on the 29th and 30th floors was Global Infrastructure Partners, although the identity of the sublandlord, represented by JLL in the deal, couldn't be confirmed. Newmark’s Chris Mongeluzo, Moshe Sukenik and Brian Cohen repped Paul, Weiss. The building is owned by a joint venture of Fisher Brothers and Blackstone.
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Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. signed a 50K SF deal at Stahl Organization’s 277 Park Ave., bringing its total space in the building to 316K SF, the New York Post reported. The deal brings the nearly 1.9M SF building to 98% leased. Cushman & Wakefield’s Mark Boisi, Bryan Boisi and Stephen Bellwood represented the landlord.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Tishman Speyer scored $385M in refinancing loans for 300 Park Ave., its Class-A office tower in the Plaza District. The financing for the 770K SF office is split into a $330M CMBS loan with a 5.4% fixed interest rate and a $55M mezzanine loan with Macquarie Capital Principal Finance. The CMBS loan was led by JPMorgan Chase, with Deutsche Bank Securities and Morgan Stanley serving as co-lenders. The new financing will be used to pay off the property’s maturing $485M CMBS loan, which went into special servicing in April 2023, before Tishman Speyer secured an extension a few months later by paying $30M into the property's reserve fund.
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MacArthur Holdings netted a $47M first mortgage from JPMorgan for its property at 415 W. 13th St. The Meatpacking District building’s retail and condo units, which account for 68% of its total rentable area, are fully leased to tenants including Estée Lauder. MacArthur Holdings used the loan to pay off existing debt and fund closing costs. A capital advisory team at Ripco Real Estate that was led by Adam Hakim, James Murad and Michael Winter arranged the financing.
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Stellar Management landed a $95M refinancing for an Upper West Side apartment building known as the Windermere West End at 666 West End Ave., PincusCo reported. The lender was an entity named West End Lender LLC that is in care of the law firm Adler & Stachenfeld. The loan retires a $119M CMBS loan.
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Algin Management signed a $325M refi deal covering six apartment properties, PincusCo reported. The financing came from New York Life Insurance Co. and replaces a loan of the same value. The properties span 1,320 units and include 300 Mercer St., 200 E. 33rd St. and 229 W. 60th St.
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Grubb Properties nabbed a $129.4M loan from Maxim Capital Group for the planned 462-unit apartment building at 111 Washington St., PincusCo reported. The prior lender on the FiDi tower was also Maxim, which previously provided $106.7M. Construction at the property stalled last year, New York YIMBY reported at the time.
TOP SALES
Clipper Equity’s David Bistricer sold a six-story rental apartment building at 10 W. 65th St. to Janusz Sendowski for $45.6M, Crain’s New York Business reported. Sendowski owns several West Village properties and made this acquisition with a $31M loan from JPMorgan. The Lincoln Square property last changed hands in 2017, when Bistricer bought it for $79M from Touro College.
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Meadow Partners acquired the retail space at 200 Lafayette St., anchored by Eataly, for $37M from Brookfield, Crain’s reported. The private equity firm now owns the building’s 31K SF commercial condo, which has 28K SF of retail and office over eight floors and 3K SF of building common areas. The majority of the space, which Brookfield acquired when it bought General Growth Properties in 2018, is concentrated on the ground and second floors, but the majority of the seven-story building didn't trade.
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State-owned New York Power Authority shelled out $206.8M to buy 21-25 13th Ave., a 15.7-acre lot in Astoria, from oil and gas company BP, PincusCo reported. The property formerly housed a ConEd power plant, Commercial Observer reported. It is also adjacent to NYPA’s 31-03 20th Ave. energy complex. NYPA Special Counsel Allison Renstrom Shea signed on behalf of the buyer.
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Homeless services nonprofit The Jericho Project and affordable housing developer Vertical Community Development bought a large corner parcel in the South Bronx for $10M, Crain’s reported. The sites span more than half an acre across five contiguous properties that are largely being used as parking. The transaction was split into two deals: Michael Malhas sold 421, 423 and 427 E. 148th St. for $4.3M, while BNS Real Estate sold 415 E. 148th St. plus one unaddressed parcel for $6M. Supportive Housing Solutions provided a $14.3M loan to the buyers. Plans for the site aren't yet known.
