Facebook is reportedly considering a mammoth lease at 50 Hudson Yards, potentially bumping a major law firm out of the building.
Facebook's deal for at least 1M SF isn’t final, but very close, Crain’s New York Business reports. Developers Related and Oxford Properties Group decided in the last day to pump the brakes on a lease with law firm Debevoise & Plimpton that is reportedly in the works.
The law firm was said to be weighing taking some 450K SF in the building. It is now considering leasing space at Tishman Speyer’s building called The Spiral that is nearby, while also looking at some of the other biggest office projects in the city: Two Manhattan West, 3 World Trade Center and 4 Times Square, according to Crain's.
Facebook already has offices at 770 Broadway and 335 Madison Ave. and has been searching the city to expand its footprint. Last year, it was said to be considering SL Green’s One Madison Ave., and there was talk of the tech giant considering space at Vornado’s major redevelopment of Hotel Pennsylvania at 401 Seventh Ave. — but Facebook threw cold water on that idea.
If the Hudson Yards deal closes, it will be the latest major company to stake its flag on Manhattan’s Far West Side. BlackRock is already set to move to 50 Hudson Yards, having signed an 850K SF anchor lease back in 2016, and Pfizer signed an 800K SF lease at The Spiral in 2017. Hudson Yards is less than a mile due north of Chelsea and Meatpacking, where Google is the dominant office user and landowner.
The tower, which will span 2.9M SF and cost around $3.8B, will likely be the city’s most expensive office building. Mitsui Fudosan acquired a 90% stake in the building in 2017, and construction is set to wrap in 2022.
