Three Firms Take 77K SF at Hudson Yards
By Celia Young April 10, 2023 2:48 pm
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You know what they say about leases being like buses. You wait and wait for some news of them, then three come along at once.
Financial planner J.F. Lehman & Company, law firm Milbank and insurance business Liberty Mutual inked around 77,000 square feet at Related Companies’ Hudson Yards, the New York Post first reported.
In the largest of the three deals, J.F. Lehman signed a 10-year lease for 29,000 square feet at 55 Hudson Yards to nearly double its New York City footprint from its current 13,000 square feet at 110 East 59th Street, said Newmark’s Brian Goldman, who represented J.F. Lehman along with Matthew Lorberbaum.
Goldman declined to comment on the asking rent, but the average asking rent for the neighborhood was $128.84 per square foot in the first quarter of 2023, according to a report from Colliers. Related — which handled the deal in-house via Stephen Winter and Elliot Karp — declined to comment.
J.F. Lehman will take over the entire 23rd floor of the 51-story building from private equity firm Vista Equity Partners early next year, once Vista relocates to its new, 95,000-square-foot space at the nearby 50 Hudson Yards, Goldman said.
The financial firm, which invests in aerospace, defense and government companies, decided to move to the building’s “recently-built, high-end” offices because of the “the combination of retail, restaurants and amenities” nearby, Goldman said.
Aside from J.F. Lehman, law firm Milbank expanded to 28,000 square feet on the entire 29th floor of 55 Hudson Yards, bringing its footprint in the building to just under 315,000 square feet, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
Milbank first took nine floors at the 1.3-million-square-foot office tower in 2016, relocating from its Financial District offices at 28 Liberty Street, Commercial Observer previously reported.
The law firm decided to exercise an existing option in its original lease to expand to the new floor, but it’s not clear when it will move into the new space, according to the source. It’s unclear how long the original lease was for.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Dale Schlather and Greg Herman represented Milbank. It was not clear who handled it for Related. Spokespeople for C&W and Milbank did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At the nearby 50 Hudson Yards, Liberty Mutual signed a 20,000-square-foot deal for part of the 65th floor of the 2.9 million-square-foot tower, according to the source.
Its move-in date couldn’t be gleaned, nor could the lease’s asking rent or length — but asking rents at 50 Hudson Yards were reportedly between $175 to $240 per square foot last year.
Liberty Mutual also has a New York City office at 28 Liberty Street. It’s unclear if it plans to ditch that space to relocate to Hudson Yards or if it’s a new office for the firm.
The Boston-based insurance giant — with the jingle “Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, Liberty” — was attracted to the property thanks to its roster of big-name tenants including Truist Financial, Vista and Facebook’s parent company Meta, the source said. (Good luck getting that jingle out of your head now!).
But Meta might have a smaller presence at the building next year. The tech giant plans to cut about 250,000 square feet from its 1.9-million-square-foot Hudson Yards office portfolio at 55 and 30 Hudson Yards when those leases expire in 2024.
Cresa’s Michael McKenna and Maureen Young handled the deal for Liberty Mutual. It was not immediately clear who represented Related. McKenna, Young and a spokesperson for Liberty Mutual did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Celia Young can be reached at cyoung@commercialobserver.com.
