Vice Media Planning to Consolidate Offices in Brooklyn’s Dock 72
By Nicholas Rizzi August 26, 2021 12:22 pm
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News and entertainment outlet Vice Media plans to consolidate its three Brooklyn offices — including the one it infamously took over from beloved DIY venue Death By Audio — to Dock 72 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Vice is reportedly in the works to take “four or five floors” in Rudin Management Company and Boston Properties’ 675,000-square-foot glass office building, The Real Deal reported. It’s unclear how big the space would be, but floor plates in Dock 72 range from 32,000 square feet to 53,000 square feet, according to its website.
However, a spokesperson for Vice said in a statement to Commercial Observer that it hasn’t signed any lease for the space yet.
“Vice has a current lease that expires in 2022 and does not have an agreement with any party at this time,” the spokesperson said. “Like all companies with an expiring lease, Vice is exploring all options for new office space while maintaining the best cost profile for our company.”
Spokespeople Boston Properties and Rudin did not respond to requests for comment.
If the deal goes through, it would be the first tenant, aside from WeWork, to take space in Dock 72 since it opened in 2019. The property has struggled to attract tenants — which Rudin previously blamed on delays in its amenity space opening — that only worsened as the pandemic hit. And Boston Properties had to declare a $60.5 million impairment charge in its fourth-quarter 2020 earnings statement because of the slow leasing at the property, Bisnow reported.
“That’s a great score for them,” Timothy King, managing partner at Brooklyn-based brokerage SVN CPEX Real Estate, who’s not involved in the deal, told Commercial Observer in describing the Vice deal. “This will be a major coup.”
As part of the deal, Vice will consolidate its three Brooklyn offices — 99 North 10th Street, 55 Washington Street, and the connected 49 South Second Street and 285 Kent Avenue — to Dock 72, TRD reported.
Vice, which started as a punk magazine in 1994, drew the ire of many residents and musicians when it took over both the 49 South Second and 285 Kent locations in 2014, forcing the iconic Williamsburg, Brooklyn, music venue Death By Audio to shutter.
The media company worked out an agreement with the landlord of the buildings to evict its existing tenants to pave the way for Vice, as CO previously reported.
And the Dock 72 news comes as Vice laid off nearly 20 full-time writers and editors on Thursday as it pivots to more video, The New York Times reported.
Update: This story has been updated to include a statement from Vice that it has not signed any leases yet.
Nicholas Rizzi can be reached at nrizzi@commercialobserver.com.
