Law Firm Latham & Watkins Grows by 131K SF at 1285 Avenue of the Americas

Latham & Watkins, a law firm specializing in corporate, finance, litigation and regulatory issues, has expanded its offices at RXR’s 1285 Avenue of the Americas by approximately 131,354 square feet, bringing its total footprint at the office tower to a whopping 251,354 square feet, according to a February Manhattan office report from Colliers. 

The expansion comes just seven months after Latham & Watkins signed a 12-year, 120,000-square-foot lease in the building. That deal added space to the law firm’s larger office presence in New York City, which includes more than 435,000 square feet one block away  at Rockefeller Group’s 1271 Avenue of the Americas. 

Few details were available about the new expansion deal at 1285 Avenue of the Americas, including the asking rent. Average asking rent for office space in Midtown was $84.28 per square foot in February, according to Colliers.

In the law firm’s initial lease in July, Latham & Watkins was represented by Scott Gamber, Craig Reicher and Emily Chabrier of CBRE, while RXR was represented in-house by William Elder and Daniel Birney. 

It is not clear if the same team of brokers from CBRE represented the law firm in the February lease expansion. CBRE and RXR did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

1285 Avenue of the Americas is a 39-story, Class A office tower between West 51st and West 52nd streets. Other tenants include Japanese bank Mizuho Financial Group, law firm Ropes & Gray, and Swiss bank UBS. 

News of Latham & Watkins’ expansion came during a bit of a slowdown for office activity in Manhattan in February. The borough’s total office leasing activity during the month — 2.23 million square feet — was down 39.5 percent compared to January, while Manhattan’s overall office availability rate grew for the first time in two years by 0.1 percent, according to Colliers.

Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com.