American Eagle Outfitters is consolidating all of its brand offices into one headquarters near Madison Square Park in the largest New York City office lease of 2024.
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The company has signed a deal for more than 338K SF at 63 Madison Ave. in a complex set of transactions.
Under the agreement, AEO has signed a direct lease with landlords George Comfort & Sons, Jamestown and Loeb Partners Realty for 108K SF across the seventh and 11th floors. It will also take over nearly 67K SF of one of the concourse areas.
On the eighth, ninth and 10th floors, AEO has signed a sublease arrangement with CBS for 162K SF, which will eventually convert into a direct lease.
The 20-year lease will move the corporate offices of American Eagle Outfitters, Aerie, Offline by Aerie, Unsubscribed and Todd Snyder under one Midtown South roof, according to a release.
AEO is headquartered in Pittsburgh, and its New York City Design Center occupies the top two floors of the Tiffany & Co. building on Fifth Avenue. It is unclear which offices will be vacated as part of the consolidation move.
The owners of the 15-story, 860K SF 63 Madison recently completed renovations, including updating its lobby and enhancing the building’s retail. Whole Foods Market’s 60K SF store anchors the tower’s base.
AEO was represented by a Savills team consisting of Mitti Liebersohn, David Goldstein, Anna Erickson, Nate Brzozowski and Will Demuth. Ownership was represented by George Comfort & Sons CEO Peter Duncan, as well as Matt Coudert and Alex Bermingham. Cushman & Wakefield’s Mark Boisi represented CBS in its sublease.
AEO and its brokers toured more than 70 buildings in Manhattan before landing at 63 Madison, according to a press release.
The relocation is a spot of bright news in a market that is still struggling with pandemic-driven shifts in office demand. More than 20% of Manhattan's offices were available to lease at the end of the first quarter, according to Savills, an all-time high. There were just 6.8M SF of deals signed, the slowest quarter in three years.
AEO's deal won't do much to improve Manhattan's availability figures. Monday morning, WeWork decided to vacate its headquarters and coworking space at Tower 49 in Midtown, Bisnow first reported. The closure could create a vacancy of more than 300K SF.
CORRECTION, APRIL 30, 10:55 A.M. ET: A previous version of this story incorrectly spelled Nate Brzozowski's name. The story has been updated.
