WeWork Inks 117K-SF Lease at 575 Lexington Avenue
By Rey Mashayekhi October 8, 2018 5:46 pm
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New York City’s largest private office tenant keeps getting larger.
WeWork has agreed to take 117,000 square feet of space at 575 Lexington Avenue in Midtown East, the coworking giant announced today.
WeWork’s lease spans five floors at the 35-story, 740,000-square-foot office tower between East 51st and East 52nd Streets, a spokesman for the company confirmed. The office provider will occupy the entire 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th floors at the property, which is owned by a joint venture partnership between landlords Angelo Gordon & Co., Normandy Real Estate Partners and George Comfort & Sons. WeWork expects to open the location to its members in the first half of next year, the company spokesman said.
Asking rent in the deal and the length of the lease were not immediately clear. The names of the brokers involved in the transaction could not be confirmed, and a representative for the landlords did not immediately provide comment.
What is clear, however, is that WeWork continues to grow its already sizable presence in New York City, where it recently surpassed J.P. Morgan Chase as the largest private occupier of office space with 5.3 million square feet under lease and counting.
“Given the incredible demand we’re seeing from companies wishing to join the WeWork community, we are constantly looking to expand our footprint in New York City,” WeWork Chief Development Officer Granit Gjonbalaj said in a statement—adding that the location at 575 Lexington Avenue “will allow us to better serve our fast-growing community of over 50,000 members in the city.”
According to The Real Deal, which first reported the news of the transaction at 575 Lexington Avenue, the lease is one of the largest signed by WeWork in the city this year. Other major space commitments secured by the coworking firm this year include 258,000 square feet at 21 Penn Plaza; 167,000 square feet at 18 West 18th Street in Chelsea; 122,000 square feet at 154 West 14th Street; and 115,000 square feet at 750 Lexington Avenue.
WeWork also recently agreed to take all 100,000 square feet of office space at 35 East 21st Street in the Flatiron District, as Commercial Observer first reported last month. That location is meant to serve its new “HQ by WeWork” business, which looks to compete with rival office providers like Knotel in providing space for “medium-sized” businesses with between 11 to 250 employees.
