It’s no secret that Manhattan’s office market is in crisis.
Or is it?
In the city, nearly 100 million square feet of office space is sitting vacant. But investors and developers are pushing forward and betting big on the Big Apple’s future with a dozen jumbo towers now in various stages of planning or completion.
All are trying to woo the numerous large tenants that make decisions years before their current leases end.
Hippo-sized companies like Blackstone, American Express and Jane Street Capital are known to be in the market, scouting for about 1 million square feet each.
Nomura and Barclays are prowling for roughly 500,000 square feet, as is CBS, which has a studio property to sell before it will make any decisions to relocate. Others seeking roughly 200,000 square feet to 500,000 square feet include Google, Ralph Lauren, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, MetLife and Ares.
At the smaller end, another three dozen companies are seeking over 100,000 square feet, while at least 100 need 20,000 square feet or more — roughly a floor or two in a new tower.
It’s all an effort by buildings and corporations to energize employees with shiny new spaces. Of course, that leaves older, less-amenitized buildings holding the hot potato.
Here’s a look at what is here now and what could be coming to the city’s skyline in the coming years.
Front ‘Yard’
Hudson Yards has several projects in various stages of planning. The site’s master developer, Related Companies, has already built Nos. 10, 20, the podium shops, 30, 50 and 55 Hudson Yards. Now, it is preparing to launch 70 Hudson Yards.
“It’s our next big focus and based on demand we are very bullish on that project,” said Stephen Winter of Related.
The building will sit along Hudson Boulevard on the western blockfront between West 35th and 36th streets.
The 1.2 million-square-foot design by Roger Ferris + Partners and Gensler will feature numerous terraces across its 45 stories with floor plates of about 30,000 square feet. It’s currently slated to be finished in 2026 and tenants will be able to take advantage of lower property taxes under the Pilot program. An amenity floor will have a lounge, conferencing and wellness.
“We are starting to talk to the brokerage community,” Winter said. “There are big groups starting to look and we feel really good about that site and everything we’ve done.”
One advantage of Hudson Yards, he boasted, is that they have “critical mass and a city.” Additionally, many of their amenities across the towers are exclusive to their tenants and residents.
Back ‘Yard’ and Square
Other towers are being constructed by competing developers within the general Hudson Yards district and further south in Hudson Square.
A joint project of Joseph Moinian’s Moinian Group and Boston Properties, 3 Hudson Blvd. is slated to have 1.85 million square feet spread over 56 stories.
The site, on West 34th Street, was held up for a decade as the MTA used it to stage construction of the 7 line extension, which now has entrances at its doorstep.
Trying to guess the market, Moinian was also ready to go with designs for either a residential or office tower. Now, the joint venture with Boston Properties has settled on the office design by FXCollaborative and Gensler and has foundations in the ground.
Tishman Speyer, the developer of 66 Hudson Blvd., aka the Spiral, is quietly planning another tower dubbed 99 Hudson Blvd. This approximately 1 million-square-foot project is still being planned on Eleventh Avenue between West 36th and 37th streets.
In Hudson Square, the area just north of Canal Street is boasting the newly built 555 Greenwich. Its 264,430 square feet now adjoins the 935,768-square-foot 345 Hudson, creating combined floor plates of up to 87,000 square feet with 33,000 square feet of outdoor space via 11 outdoor terraces. The project was designed by CookFox and developed by Hudson Square Properties, a joint venture of Trinity Church, Norges and Hines and boasts geothermal energy.
World class
At the World Trade Center, Larry Silverstein is hoping after 23 years and several iterations that this time is the charm for 2 World Trade Center.
Now a Foster + Partners design, it incorporates terraces and greenery in its 1,350 feet and Silverstein sports a mischievous smile when questioned about tenants.
Middle East
In Midtown, a 1,388-foot-tall project with 2.5 million square feet, also designed by Norman Foster, is rising quickly at 270 Park Ave.
It is owned, and will be fully occupied, by the financial giant JPMorgan.
At the same time, Boston Properties is clearing the site owned by the MTA at 343 Madison Ave. where it plans a 900,000-square-foot tower under a 99-year ground lease it signed with the MTA. This summer, it sold a 45% stake in the project to an institutional investor.
The venture agreed to first construct a new direct entrance to Grand Central Madison.
Should it not get an anchor tenant, it has an option to terminate the main lease by July 1, 2025, and be refunded for the cost of the new entrance.
To its east, Rudin Management has filed a permit to build a 342,000-square-foot, 40-story tower at 415 Madison Ave. on the site of its own, older office building.
On the other side of Grand Central Terminal, TF Cornerstone, RXR, MSD Capital and Hyatt are pitching the nearly 3 million-square-foot 175 Park Ave. which will include 2.1 million square feet of offices and rise 1,575 feet tall on land leased by Hyatt (which will have a 500-room hotel there). The project isn’t expected to open until the end of the decade or longer. To put into perspective, the top of the nearby One Vanderbilt’s spire is 1,401 feet high.
Central intelligence
Further north, a joint venture between Vornado and Rudin Management is planning a 1,350-foot-tall tower of 1.7 million square feet at 350 Park Ave.
The new project would rise on the site of that Vornado building along with Rudin’s 40 E. 52nd St., as well as a small townhouse they purchased this summer.
Tenant Citadel has an option to purchase a 60% stake and occupy more or less than 850,000 square feet, but also has an option to buy the project for $1.4 billion by June 2030 and develop the project themselves. On the other hand, Vornado and Rudin can ask Citadel to buy it outright for $1.2 billion between Oct. 2024 and September 2030, and may participate in any development for another 10 years under certain conditions.
Several smaller towers are also rising or slated for Midtown.
The 180,000-square-foot 125 W. 57 St. is underway by Alchemy-ABR Investment Partners and Cain International. Designed by FXCollaborative, its base will include a new Calvary Baptist Church which owned the site.
At 520 Fifth Ave., Rabina is building a slender mixed-use tower that will include offices with condominiums on top.
Penn and ink
A complete transformation of a 1968 office building, Vornado’s Penn 2 will be ready for tenants in December and has a dramatic bustle that cantilevers over the entrance.
Meanwhile, its sister Penn 15, at an enormous 2.7 million square feet in size and 1,200 feet in height, is still vying for anchor tenants opposite Madison Square Garden. Fingers crossed for it to open by the end of this decade.
Mad men
One Madison, which takes up nearly the full block between East 23rd and 24th streets between Park and Madison avenues and across from Madison Square Park, is ready for tenants. Developer SL Green used architects KPF to add a new glass tower and terraces to the previous granite base, bringing it to 27 stories with 1.4 million square feet. It is already over half leased to IBM, Franklin Templeton and a 53,000-square-foot Chelsea Piers Fitness facility.
