Banking App Current Moves From WeWork to Direct Deal at 620 Avenue of the Americas
By Abigail Nehring November 29, 2023 11:58 am
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Mobile banking app Current is staying put and expanding its footprint, but cutting out the middleman.
Following WeWork (WE)’s exit from 620 Avenue of the Americas, Current has signed a direct deal with landlord RXR for 71,692 square feet on the entire seventh floor of the Beaux Arts building in Chelsea, Commercial Observer has learned.
WeWork handed over its operations in the building to RXR earlier this month, a WeWork spokesperson said in an email. The property housed two WeWork enterprise tenants, who will remain members and can still access other WeWork locations, the spokesperson added.
Current’s direct deal expands its footprint in the building by 29,192 square feet from the 42,500 square feet it signed with WeWork in 2022, as CO previously reported.
Asking rent for the new direct lease was more than $100 per square foot, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
The exact length of Current’s new direct lease is unclear, but its WeWork deal in 2022 was for four years.
WeWork filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, after years of teetering on the edge, and has been leasing 212,387 square feet at 620 Avenue of the Americas since 2019. The site served as its former headquarters.
WeWork also has another 90,000 square feet at RXR’s 75 Rockefeller Plaza.
The RXR properties are not among the 40 New York City locations WeWork is seeking permission to abandon as part of its bankruptcy proceedings. Negotiations to transition tenants at both buildings to direct leases were already underway in September, CoStar previously reported.
WeWork global head of real estate Peter Greenspan said in a statement the decision to hand over operations at the Avenue of the Americas building to RXR is “part of WeWork’s efforts to achieve a sustainable capital structure and profitable business.”
“RXR has been a great partner in swiftly reaching a solution that prioritizes our members, ensuring no disruption for them and their business as they continue to occupy their space,” Greenspan added. “We look forward to supporting them through this transition and continuing their memberships at other WeWork locations.”
A spokesperson for Current said in an email that “our office will be unaffected by the transition.”
Rob Kluge and Adam Henick of Current Real Estate Advisors arranged the deal for Current, while Daniel Birney and Alexandra Budd represented RXR in-house.
Kluge, Henick and a spokesperson for RXR declined to comment.
Abigail Nehring can be reached at anehring@commercialobserver.com.
