Facebook Cutting 250K SF at Hudson Yards
By Nicholas Rizzi December 1, 2022 12:06 pm
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Facebook’s parent company Meta will cut about 250,000 square feet from its 1.9 million-square-foot Hudson Yards office portfolio as part of the firm’s plans to drop at least $2.9 billion to lose office space across the country.
The social media giant plans to give back the space it took at 30 and 55 Hudson Yards in 2019 to landlord Related Companies once its lease runs out in 2024, Bloomberg reported.
A spokesperson for Meta told Commercial Observer that it plans to sublease a “small portion” of its space at 50 Hudson Yards.
“Our aim is to build a best-in-class remote work experience to help everyone do the best work of their careers no matter where they are,” Tracy Clayton, a spokesperson for Meta, said in a statement. “We remain firmly committed to New York City as evidenced by the recent opening of the Farley building, and 50 Hudson Yards, which is estimated to open next year, further anchoring our local footprint.”
A spokesperson Related did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Facebook and other large tech firms were one of the few bright spots for Manhattan’s office market during the pandemic slowdown, with Facebook signing the largest lease of 2020 when it took 730,000 square feet at the Farley Post Office redevelopment. But all that has started to change as tech giants deal with a harsh financial environment leading them to implement hiring freezes, layoffs and cut-backs on pricey office space.
Meta already spent $413 million to get out of leases in the third quarter, including its 200,000 square feet at 225 Park Avenue South, the company said in a recent earnings call. It also backed out of a planned 300,000-square-foot expansion at 770 Broadway in July.
The company — which also has 95,000 square feet at 335 Madison Avenue — previously signaled that it was planning to reduce some of its Hudson Yards space and was reportedly planning on pausing the buildout of new offices in Related’s development.
Nicholas Rizzi can be reached at nrizzi@commercialobserver.com.
