Fantasy Sports Site Draft Inks Lease for New Chelsea Office
By Rey Mashayekhi September 22, 2017 7:17 pm
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Daily fantasy sports provider Draft has taken more than 7,000 square feet of ground- and lower-level space at 217-219 West 21st Street in Chelsea that will serve as the company’s new offices, Commercial Observer has learned.
Draft signed a five-year, 7,310-square-foot deal late last month for the space at the three-story, roughly 13,000-square-foot commercial building between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, according to sources with knowledge of the transaction.
The fantasy sports gaming website—which was acquired by Dublin, Ireland-based online gambling operator Paddy Power Betfair in a $48 million deal earlier this year—agreed to take the entire 4,230-square-foot ground level plus the entire 3,080-square-foot lower level at the property.
Draft will use the two-floor, gallery-like space as its offices. Asking rent in the deal was $100 per square foot for the ground-floor, with Draft paying a monthly rent of $45,000 for the entirety of its space, sources said.
Independent principal broker Gabe Whitman, formerly of Cushman & Wakefield and Buchbinder & Warren, handled the transaction on behalf of the landlord, 217 West 21 Street LLC, according to city property records. Draft had no representation in the deal.
Draft already occupies part of the building’s second floor via a sublease, after a lease for its old Flatiron District offices expired. The fantasy sports site intends to take full occupancy of its permanent space either before the end of this year or early next year upon completion of a buildout, sources said.
