Leases  ·  Office

Consumer Reports Takes 8K SF in Midtown East for First Manhattan Outpost

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Consumer Reports is testing some new digs in Manhattan.

The nonprofit research and product testing organization signed a two-year lease for 8,189 square feet on the second floor of 675 Third Avenue to establish a satellite office in the borough, Commercial Observer has learned. Asking rents were $72 per square foot, according to landlord the Durst Organization

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“This is a plug-and-play solution with furniture [and] a very high-end, forward-thinking trendy premises, which attracted Consumer Reports given that this is their first Manhattan-based office location,” said Durst’s Lauren Ferrentino, who handled the deal in-house for the landlord with Ashlea Aaron. “It has an open-ceiling concept, exposed concrete flooring [and] it’s very loft-like. … They chose the space to recruit talent.”

Yonkers-based Consumer Reports moved to its new offices on the northeast corner of 42nd Street and Third Avenue in April.

The firm’s deal, which closed in the first quarter of this year, includes an option to exit the lease in April 2023, according to a representative from the firm.
“The new space expands [Consumer Reports]’s footprint to a place where millions of consumers gather every day – the heart of New York City,” Eric Wayne, senior vice president and chief financial officer at the organization, said in a statement. “It will provide an opportunity for CR’s staff to come together for team meetings, brainstorming, and collaboration so that we can pursue our work to create a fair and just marketplace for everyone.”

Its new offices were formerly occupied by Meet In Place, a meeting room provider that left the building in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the landlord. The company closed its spaces in the Big Apple and now has locations only in Tel Aviv, Israel, according to its website.

Consumer Reports joins Douglas Elliman Property Management, Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects and the International Trademark Association at the 32-story building.

Celia Young can be reached at cyoung@commercialobserver.com.