The Barbarian Group is relocating its offices to the Flatiron District.
The advertising agency that markets itself as the company that “makes stuff the internet loves” will be moving from its office on Beach Street in Tribeca to 111 West 19th Street. The group will take a 23,000-square-foot space on the seventh floor of the building, according to data from Compstak.
The data also noted that the asking rent for the space was in the upper $40s per square foot, nearly double the rate of the previous tenant, Vidipax. The firm, a subsidiary of Seattle-based Loudeye Corp., had occupied the space since 2003.
The jump in asking rent is likely due to the recent rise of Flatiron and Midtown South as commercial districts over the last few years. Both areas have attracted creative and tech companies similar to the Barbarian Group.
A recent report for the first two quarters of 2013 by Colliers International noted asking rents for Flatiron and Midtown are hovering between $55-57 per square foot and around $50-51 per square foot in each area, respectively.
The brokers on the Barbarian Group’s transaction were not disclosed. However, the building is owned and managed by the Kaufman Organization.
For nearly a decade, the Kaufman Organization has been instrumental in shaping commercial real estate in Manhattan, especially around the Fashion District in the west 30s. During World War II, the company expanded and built several other properties, including 519 Eighth Avenue, 450 Seventh Avenue, its current headquarters, 22 West 19th Street, and, of course, 111 West 19th Street.
