Leases  ·  Office

Amazon Set to Lease 1M Square Feet at One Court Square in Long Island City

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Amazon plans to lease 1 million square feet of office space at Savanna’s One Court Square in Long Island City, Queens, the landlord announced in a press release today.

The e-commerce company signed a letter of intent to lease a million square feet in the 1.4-million-square-foot tower as it formally announced its intent to build a new headquarters on Plaxall Realty’s Anable Basin site on the Long Island City waterfront.

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There has been rampant speculation over the past week that Amazon would take space in the 50-story building, which is one of the few office towers in the neighborhood large enough to accommodate the tech giant.

Citigroup (C), the building’s anchor tenant since it was constructed in 1990, plans to move most of its employees out and vacate a million square feet across 31 floors in 2020. The bank has the option to consolidate its footprint into the remaining 400,000 square feet in the property after 2020, but it hasn’t said whether it will do so, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.

Citi separately announced today that it would move 1,100 workers out of the building over the first half of 2019 to make way for Amazon and into the company’s newly renovated 38-story headquarters at 388 Greenwich Street in Tribeca. The company currently has 3,000 workers in the glass-clad skyscraper next to the Court Square subway station.

“We have committed to vacate certain floors at One Court Square early and move about 1,100 of the colleagues who presently work there to alternate locations, including in Long Island City and our Tribeca headquarters,” Citi CEO Michael Corbat said in a press release.

Savanna wouldn’t comment on the transaction beyond what was included in its announcement.

“We’re thrilled that Amazon selected One Court Square as a critical component of its HQ2 plans for Long Island City,” said Nicholas Bienstock, a managing partner at Savanna, in prepared remarks. “It’s truly a privilege for Savanna to have the opportunity to partner with Amazon in a transaction that has the potential for tremendous job creation for New York City, and we look forward to a successful execution that will bring extraordinary benefits to the neighborhood, the city and region as a whole.”