Luxoft Relocation Downtown Illustrates Broader Tech Shift
By Al Barbarino October 4, 2013 2:44 pm
reprintsLuxoft USA, Inc. has signed a roughly 4,700-square-foot, 10-year lease for a portion of the fifth floor at Savanna’s 100 Wall Street.
The software development and IT solutions provider relocates to the building from its former Penn Plaza location, representative of a broader shift among tech tenants moving Downtown.
“We definitely are seeing an influx of tech tenants in various stages of development,” said Kevin Hoo, vice president of Savanna, which also owns 80 Broad Street. “That’s the general exodus and trend.”
Pricing aside, the location of the building is attractive to tech tenants, as Downtown evolves as a destination for young professionals, and employees and clients hunker down in the surrounding enclaves of Jersey City and Brooklyn, Mr. Hoo noted.
Since acquiring the building in 2011, Savanna has signed leases with a range of tech companies at the building, including MedCPU, Advanced Visual Systems, Informa and Argsoft.
Rents at 100 Wall Street range from the high $30’s to mid $40’s per square foot. That range falls in line average rents among Downtown’s Class B building stock, which rang in at $36.24 in the third quarter, compared to $59.39 in Midtown South and $49.77 Midtown, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield.
In turn, Downtown is more than ever being sought as a value alternative to Midtown South, and nearly one-million-square feet of positive absorption recorded in the quarter occurred Downtown, according to Cassidy Turley.
In addition, a rebirth of Class A product plays out, with the completion of 1 World Trade Center, the repositioned Brookfield Place, the imminent arrival of 4 World Trade Center, and repositioned space along Water Street.
Mitchell Konsker and Scott Cahaly of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Savanna, while Yura Mitskevich of Elbrus Capital Group represented the tenant.
