ESRT Relocating to Penn Plaza from 1 Grand Central Place [Updated]
By Terence Cullen February 23, 2016 10:10 am
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Empire State Realty Trust is relocating and consolidating its offices from the Grand Central Terminal area to the Pennsylvania Station region of Midtown, executives announced in an earnings call this morning.
The real estate investment trust will move into new digs at 111 West 33rd Street between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue, ESRT President and Chief Operating Officer John Kessler said during the call. Moving south in Midtown will open up prime space at 1 Grand Central Place, or 60 East 42nd Street, between Park and Madison Avenues.
“This will free up valuable space to redevelop and re-lease,” Mr. Kessler said.
A spokeswoman said ESRT will take the entire 12th floor at 111 West 33rd Street, which comes out to 36,896 square feet. The company is expected to relocate late to the 743,283-square-foot building in the second quarter of 2016. When it does move, ESRT will vacate three offices on three different floors of the 86-year-old 1 Grand Central Place. The exit will free up the entire 26th floor, or 17,573 square feet, and the whole 48th floor, or 12,732 square feet, the spokeswoman said.
ESRT announced that it will continue to vacate, rebuild and lease its Manhattan portfolio to tenants at a higher rent. Thomas Durels, ESRT’s head of leasing, said there was nearly 1.8 million square feet still to be redeveloped, including more than 400,000 square feet at the Empire State Building. The REIT plans to renovate about 460,000 square feet of its Manhattan holdings this year.
“As we have discussed, occupancy may fluctuate in the short term as we take space offline,” Mr. Durels said. “This is intentional and consistent with our strategy.”
With additional reporting provided by Lauren Elkies Schram.
Update: This story was edited to include how many square feet ESRT would be taking at 111 West 33rd Street, as well as how many floors it is currently on at 1 Grand Central Place.
