Growing Digital Firm Alloy Digital Relocates to 498 Seventh Avenue
By Al Barbarino March 12, 2013 7:30 am
reprintsAlloy Digital has signed a six-year, 29,416-square-foot sublease with Liquidnet Holdings Inc. at 498 Seventh Avenue in Times Square South, The Commercial Observer has learned.
The expanding digital media firm will occupy the entire 19th floor in the 880,000-square-foot, Class A building owned by George Comfort & Sons Inc. and located between West 36th and West 37th streets. The firm is relocating from 151 West 26th Street in West Chelsea.
“Alloy Digital is one the many tech firms that have relocated to the submarket from Chelsea Market, and other areas of the city,” said Jones Lang LaSalle’s Alexander Chudnoff, who represented Alloy Digital with Dan Turkewitz.
As part of the negotiations, the sublandlord agreed to redevelop the space to the needs of Alloy Digital, a content development, production and talent management firm that owns digital, Internet-based networks, including Smosh, a teen and young adult comedy program hosted by Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla.
“Although its new offices are roughly the same size as its previous location in terms of square footage, the digital media firm will be able to take great advantage of the greater efficiencies provided by 498 Seventh Avenue and consolidate its staff onto a single floor,” Mr. Chudnoff said.
Alloy Digital announced last week that it received a $30 million investment from ABS Capital Partners that it said would help boost further growth.
“Alloy Digital made an extremely attractive investment opportunity,” said Deric Emry, general partner at ABS Capital, in a statement last week. “It is at the forefront of the shift in content consumption to digital media.”
The financing follows an “aggressive acquisition spree” by Alloy Digital that since July 2011 led its owned-and-operated channels to the top of YouTube in total subscribers with over 12 million, the firm said.
Since July 2011, Alloy Digital acquired five digital content creators, including Smosh; Generate, a next generation studio and talent management company; B5 Media, a digital publisher of women’s lifestyle content; Clevver Media, an entertainment news provider on YouTube; and The Escapist, a video game program geared towards the digital generation.
The sublandlord in the lease, Liquidnet Holdings, was represented by Howard Fiddle and Joe Mangiacotti at CBRE (CBRE).
