Add a popular social network to the list of technology firms expanding their footholds in Manhattan.
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It is unclear how much Snap is paying, but Crain’s New York Business reported that average rents in the 1.6M SF tower started at $109 per SF last year.
Santa Monica, California-based Snap is taking over three of Verizon’s floors inside the 31-story tower at a premium to the telecommunications giant's rent, Commercial Observer reported. The deal runs through to 2044.
The social media giant joins a tenant roster inside the trophy skyscraper that includes Madison Square Garden Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Major League Soccer.
Manhattan is fast becoming a landlord’s market when it comes to office, squeezing tenants to find space amid expansion pushes from tech and law firms.
Year-to-date leasing volume is almost 26.7M SF, growing by 22.1% from last month as Anthropic’s 466K SF deal bolstered the month’s total. In June, average asking rents reached their highest since July 2020, at $78 per SF, according to Colliers.
The borough’s total office availability was 66.2M SF, its lowest level since September 2020. And the amount of space on Manhattan’s sublease market also decreased, falling by 26.4% over the past year to 10.1M SF — its lowest point since August 2019.
TOP LEASES
The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission inked a 39K SF lease at AmTrustRE’s 250 Broadway. The agency will move its headquarters from 33 Beaver St. in the first quarter to the entire fourth floor and part of the fifth floor of the 31-story, 648K SF 250 Broadway office tower. Other tenants in the building include WeWork, law firm Rose & Rose, and city and state agencies. Cushman & Wakefield’s Gus Field represented the tenant. Anne Holker represented the landlord in-house, alongside CBRE’s Brad Gerla, Michael Rizzo and Alex Benisatto.
Women’s apparel retailer Veronica Beard renewed and expanded its HQ at The Winter Organization’s 26 W. 17th St. to 60K SF. The 15K SF expansion gives the retailer the entire second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth floors in the boutique Midtown South building. CBRE’s David Stockel and Taylor Walker represented the landlord, while JLL’s TJ Hochanadel and Rob Martin represented the tenant.
Insurance and risk management firm Aon renewed its 202K SF lease at 1 Liberty Plaza, according to Colliers’ July report, which placed the lease as the third-largest office deal in the city last month. The landlord is BGRE, previously known as Brookfield Properties. Aon had 237K SF in the building as of 2017, when The Real Deal reported that the tenant had expanded by 34K SF. It is unclear when the tenant reduced its space.
Sapien AI leased 11K SF at the Kaufman Organization’s 48 W. 25th St., Commercial Observer reported. The tenant is relocating from 184 Fifth Ave. for space in the 120K SF building, where asking rents are in the $80s per SF. Nomad Group’s Matthew DeRose and Calvin Bruwelheide represented the tenant. Grant Greenspan represented the landlord in-house.
TOP SALES
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Punia & Marx Real Estate sold the Whitestone Shopping Center at 153-15 Cross Island Parkway to BTF Capital Fund for $56M, according to property records. Acadia Realty Trust, which is typically a buyer or seller in such deals, provided a $48.5M acquisition loan, Commercial Observer reported.
60 Guilders and Sentry Realty acquired 1441 Broadway, a 550K SF Midtown office building, from the estate of LH Charney for $238.2M, according to a deed filed with the city this week. The buyers scored a 70% loan-to-cost floating-rate acquisition loan from Fortress Investment Group for the purchase, Commercial Observer reported. Newmark’s Adam Spies and Adam Doneger brokered the sale, while their colleagues Jordan Roeschlaub, Nick Scribani and Ricky Braha arranged the financing.
Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Foundation bought Taconic Partners’ 125 West End Ave. for $188M, Commercial Observer reported. The 400K SF life sciences facility planned for the site will become a brain research center. Ackman's nonprofit is also under contract to buy Taconic’s nearby 320 W. 66th St. for $70M.
TOP FINANCING
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EJS Group and Hope Street Capital borrowed $137.5M from AllianceBernstein to refinance 12 Halsey, a newly completed, 240-unit apartment building in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The building has a 421-a tax break and has 30% of units set aside as affordable housing. Walker & Dunlop’s Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Keith Kurland, Adam Schwartz, Dustin Stolly, Sean Reimer, Michael Diaz, Michael Ianno and Cole Grims arranged the three-year, floating-rate mortgage.
L+M Development Partners’ parent company, LMXD, and BedRock Real Estate Partners scored a $250M acquisition and construction loan from New York Life Investment Management for a 560-unit, mixed-income apartment tower in Astoria, Commercial Observer reported. The developers acquired the site at 35-10 and 35-18 Steinway St. for $53M last week. The site was rezoned in 2022 for the $2B Innovation QNS project from Silverstein Properties that was scrapped last year.
