Fintech Firm Refinitiv Moving to 109K SF at 28 Liberty Street
By Nicholas Rizzi January 9, 2020 12:36 pm
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Refinitiv became the latest company to leave Midtown for the Financial District, with the fintech firm taking 108,917 square feet at 28 Liberty Street, Commercial Observer has learned.
The company signed a more than 15-year lease for the entire 37th, 38th and 56th floors of Fosun International’s 60-story tower between William and Nassau Streets, according to JLL (JLL), which brokered the deal for both sides. Asking rent was in the upper $70s per square foot.
Refinitiv — which is headquartered in London — was started by Thomson Reuters and was previously named Financial & Risk. In 2018, Blackstone (BX) acquired a 55 percent stake in the company — valued at $20 billion — from Thomson Reuters and renamed it Refinitiv, according to Blackstone.
The London Stock Exchange —which has offices at 28 Liberty Street — bought Refinitiv in August 2019 for about $27 billion, the New York Times reported.
The company, which provides financial markets data and infrastructure, currently has its New York City offices at 3 Times Square (also known as The Reuters Building) and plans to move to its new digs at the end of the year, according to JLL’s John Wheeler, who worked on the deal for the landlord.
“It’s an exciting deal and emblematic of the type of activity we’ve been experiencing and Lower Manhattan has been experiencing,” Wheeler said. “We had a blue-chip firm that was based in Midtown and they considered their options in Midtown and included Lower Manhattan in their search. Firms are choosing Lower Manhattan as the market of choice.”
Fosun’s Tom Costanzo worked on the deal in-house along with JLL’s Wheeler, Peter Riguardi, Mitch Konsker, Dan Turkewitz and Eliza Akers. Robert Martin and T.J. Hochanadel, also of JLL, represented Refinitiv.
Fosun bought the 2.2-million-square-foot 28 Liberty for $725 million in 2013 and it was the Chinese group’s first office property in the United States, as CO previously reported. Last year, the owner completed a repositioning of the building which added 200,000 square feet of retail space and the Manhatta restaurant on the 60th floor of the property.
“Twenty-eight Liberty’s world-class architecture, dynamic new retail and dining options, and cultural and community events have all helped to position the property for leasing success,” Bo Wei, Fosun’s assistant president and the chief executive for New York, said in a statement. “Refinitiv and the diverse group of other new tenants bring enormous energy to the building and validate the repositioning strategy.”
Last year, a slew of tenants signed deals for space in the tower including insurance firm Allianz renewing its 70,000-square-foot offices, digital media company Dotdash taking 68,230 square feet and community development nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corporation taking 60,000 square feet.
Update: This story was updated to include that Fosun’s Tom Costanzo worked on the deal and that the London Stock Exchange bought Refinitiv.
