Law Firm Goodwin Procter Nears Major Lease at 200 Fifth Avenue

In what would be a major relocation, the law firm Goodwin Procter is negotiating a move from Midtown to 200 Fifth Avenue in Midtown South, Commercial Observer has learned.

During the pandemic, the firm signed an extension and an expansion for 216,419 square feet at The New York Times Building at 620 Eighth Avenue, where Goodwin Procter has been located since 2008. That deal ends in 2028.

The global law firm, which has its headquarters in Boston, has been searching for 250,000 square feet with Mark Weiss and Evan Algier of Cushman & Wakefield (CWK).

200 Fifth Avenue — sits between West 23rd and West 24th streets opposite Madison Square Park — and would be a lively and inviting area for the attorneys. The New York State Appellate Court is across the park, and IBM has now relocated to One Madison, where there are many new food options. 

Since Tiffany & Co. downsized to 287,000 square feet in 2022, 200 Fifth has available the entire second through sixth floors and part of the seventh floor, totaling 336,096 square feet. Each of the 14 floors is roughly 60,000 square feet. 

As big blocks of space with room to expand are difficult to find, it is likely that Goodwin Procter would negotiate to lease all available space, or at least four or five floors, and have future options on the remainder.

The building ownership is represented in-house by BXP and a Cushman & Wakefield team.   

Built in 1908, the 844,500-square-foot building was known as the Fifth Avenue Building and later the International Toy Center. It was landmarked in 1981, and the demise of the toy industry led to it being purchased and renovated by L&L Holding and Lehman Brothers in 2007. After a $135 million capital improvement program, it was entirely leased to advertising agency Grey as well as Tiffany. J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives took over Lehman’s position in 2011.

In 2022, BXP (then called Boston Properties) purchased a 27 percent stake for $280.2 million, taking out L&L. BXP now co-manages the building with J.P. Morgan.

There is a sky lobby on the top floor, a roof garden, and hanging gardens in the interior courtyard. Much of the building’s ground-floor space is home to the original U.S. Eataly, a vast marketplace for Italian foods.

Last year, DoorDash expanded from the entire eighth floor to the entire ninth floor, too, to occupy over 115,000 square feet. At the time, the asking rent was in the low $80s per foot but it’s now $110 per foot, sources say. Yeti also opened its first city retail store in 6,614 square feet on two floors. 

None of the parties returned emails or calls for comment on what is not yet a done deal, and is still weeks to months away from a signing.