It’s safe to say that 2024 topped last year for New York City office leases in nearly every way.
For starters, the top deals were much bigger. Two cracked the 1 million-square-foot threshold, and four came in bigger than last year’s largest of 710,000 square feet.
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That includes the largest deal of the year — New York University’s master lease of the entire, 1.18 million-square-foot office portion of 770 Broadway (a savior for landlord Vornado Realty Trust (VNO), which was set to have nearly the entire building empty when Meta left). That was followed closely by Blackstone (BX)’s expansion and renewal to 1.05 million square feet at Rudin’s 345 Park Avenue.
For the next two we have one man to thank: former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. His eponymous business media company renewed its 946,815 square feet at 731 Lexington Avenue and 924,876 square feet at 919 Third Avenue. (And, if you flip to the top 10 investment sales, you can expect to see Bloomberg’s name again.)
But it wasn’t just the largest deals that were better. There were more expansions, rather than simple renewals, and a few new deals that made the list.
And it’s not just the size of the top leases, but leasing in general that’s doing better. As of the third quarter, 16.57 million square feet of office space had been leased in the city in 2024, a 32 percent increase from the previous year, according to CBRE (CBRE). Plus, researchers expect the city to have its strongest year of leasing since the pre-pandemic days of 2019.
Without further qualification, here are the top leases of 2024 in New York City as compiled by CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield (CWK), Colliers and JLL (JLL) — and checked against Commercial Observer’s coverage, naturall
New York University
770 Broadway
1,183,000
Things weren’t looking great for Vornado at 770 Broadway when Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta announced plans to drop 275,000 square feet in the building when its lease expired this year. However, Vornado’s fortunes changed when it revealed in November that NYU agreed to master-lease the majority of the office portion of the building, with a 70-year occupation (yes, 70 years) expected to start in January.
Plus, Vornado said on a recent earnings call that NYU agreed to pay enough rent upfront to allow the landlord to pay off its $700 million loan at the property. So, all in all good news for Chairman Steven Roth.
The deal also includes the option for NYU to buy the building in the 30th or 70th years. It’s unclear who brokered the deal.
Blackstone
345 Park Avenue
1,056,203
Vornado wasn’t the only landlord getting to celebrate a million-plus-square-foot leasing deal, as Rudin got the same at 345 Park Avenue.
Blackstone agreed to extend its office lease at the property until 2034 and tack on another 250,644 square feet in the process, giving the investment firm nearly 1.06 million square feet throughout 28 floors of the 44-story building.
The firm has long had a presence in the Midtown building, first moving into 70,000 square feet in 1988 and then continuing to grow, last expanding to about 500,000 square feet in 2014.
Rudin handled the lease in-house via Tom Keating, Robert Steinman and Kevin Daly while JLL’s Peter Riguardi, Joseph Messina, Jessica Berkey, William McGarry, Hale King, Cynthia Wasserberger and Carlee Palmer represented Blackstone.
Bloomberg
731 Lexington Avenue
946,815
Steven Roth got another bit of good news in 2024 when Bloomberg signed an 11-year renewal for its 946,815-square-foot office at 731 Lexington Avenue.
Bloomberg has leased space in the tower — owned by the Vornado-managed real estate investment trust Alexander’s — since 2004. Its deal was set to run out in 2029, but the renewal keeps the company in the building until 2040.
The company was previously paying $98 per square foot for the space. Its new deal comes with rent between $88.72 per square foot to $108.44 per square foot, depending on the market rate for similar office space when the new lease kicks in.
The property has long been home to the business news network, which has been in the tower since it finished construction in 2004. It’s unclear who brokered the deal.
Bloomberg
919 Third Avenue
924,876
Michael Bloomberg cemented his reputation as one of commercial real estate’s favorite mayors with his company signing two of the top 10 leases of the year (not to mention one of the top investment sales).
In this second deal, Bloomberg signed a lease to keep its 749,035 square feet in SL Green Realty’s 919 Third Avenue and add another 175,841 square feet, growing to a grand total of 924,876 square feet.
That will keep Bloomberg — which last expanded in the property in 2021 — at 919 Third until 2040.
CBRE’s Howard Fiddle, Christopher Mansfield, Zachary Weil and Ryan Luck represented Bloomberg while Robert Alexander, Ryan Alexander, Emily Chabrier, Taylor Callaghan, Alexander D’Amario and Nicole Marshall, also of CBRE, brokered it for the landlord.
Ropes & Gray
1285 Avenue of the Americas
538,088
Law firm Ropes & Gray inked a deal to move to 538,088 square feet at RXR’s 1285 Avenue of the Americas.
The law firm will leave its 300,000-square-foot office a few blocks away at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in three years to relocate to the 39-story 1285 Avenue of the Americas. The deal will last for 20 years and has expansion options to allow the firm to grow up to 538,088 square feet (which is what every brokerage we asked listed as the deal size).
And RXR will swap one law firm in the building for another, as Ropes & Gray will take over a good chunk of the 550,000 square feet being left behind by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in its move to 765,000 square feet at 1345 Avenue of the Americas (2023’s largest lease of the year).
Cushman & Wakefield’s Mark Weiss and Newmark’s Moshe Sukenik brokered the deal for the law firm while William Elder handled it in-house for RXR.
Christie’s
20 Rockefeller Plaza
406,664
Famed auction house Christie’s didn’t want to lose its Rockefeller Plaza headquarters to another bidder. Over the summer, it signed a 25-year renewal for the 406,664 square feet it has occupied at Tishman Speyer’s 20 Rockefeller Plaza since 1998.
Christie’s uses the space for its sale rooms and corporate offices, along with public galleries and warehouses. Over the years, art pieces including Andy Warhol’s “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” and Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” have changed hands in the Rockefeller Center spot.
The auction house didn’t want to move offices or find a new broker, as CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe — who worked on Christie’s original 20 Rock deal — represented it along with Ramneek Rikhy, Cara Chayet and Courtney Hughson. Tishman Speyer handled it in-house via EB Kelly and Blythe Kinsler.
Apple
Penn 11
397,894
Steven Roth got another deal in the top 10, this time with Apple taking even more space at Penn 11.
The iPhone maker signed a deal to take an additional 61,000 square feet previously occupied by Macy’s at the building, also known as 11 Pennsylvania Plaza, and renewed its existing space, growing to 397,894 square feet. (Earlier reports had the square footage at 460,000 square feet, but both Colliers and CBRE confirmed the actual number was noticeably lower.)
Apple has been in the building since 2020, when it took 220,000 square feet from Vornado, then expanded that November in a sublease from Macy’s.
The latest deal moves Apple’s entire footprint off the Macy’s sublease and onto a direct deal with Vornado, with the lease running until 2035.
CBRE’s Scott Gottlieb represented Macy’s while David Endelman of C&W brokered the deal for Apple. Vornado’s Glen Weiss and Jared Silverman handled negotiations for the landlord.
J.P. Morgan Chase
277 Park Avenue
361,328
It almost slipped under the radar this year, but we learned that J.P. Morgan Chase renewed its 361,328-square-foot offices at the Stahl Organization’s 277 Park Avenue in the third quarter of the year.
Details on the lease are scant, but the investment bank is the largest tenant in the 1.9 million-square-foot office tower. And it’s right near 270 Park Avenue, where J.P. Morgan is currently building its new 60-story headquarters, and 250 Park Avenue, where J.P. Morgan partnered with Hines to purchase for nearly $300 million this year.
It’s unclear who brokered the renewal.
American Eagle
63 Madison Avenue
337,085
For a brief moment, American Eagle had the largest office lease of the year when it was announced in April that the retailer signed on for 337,085 square feet at 63 Madison Avenue.
American Eagle’s deal was soon eclipsed by several others, but its talons still hung on to the ninth spot.
The lease includes a 20-year direct deal for 174,791 square feet along with a 162,291-square-foot sublease with CBS that will eventually convert to a direct deal with the landlords.
Owners George Comfort & Sons, Jamestown and Loeb Partners Realty were represented in-house by Peter Duncan, Matthew Coudert and Alex Bermingham while C&W’s Mark Boisi brokered the sublease portion for CBS. Savills Mitti Liebersohn, David Goldstein, Anna Erickson, Nate Brzozowski and William Demuth arranged the lease for American Eagle.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher
787 Seventh Avenue
313,830
Finally, law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher claimed the 10th spot with its 313,830-square-foot renewal at CommonWealth Partners’ 787 Seventh Avenue.
As part of the deal, the office in the 51-story building will undergo some renovations to help accommodate the law firm’s future needs. Willkie has been in the building, also known as Axa Equitable Center, for 25 years.
Newmark’s Neil Goldmacher, Brian Goldman, Moshe Sukenik and Douglas Levin represented the law firm while Howard Fiddle, Evan Haskell, Brett Shannon and Courtney Hughson of CBRE brokered the deal for the landlord.
