NYC Education Retirement System Signs 78K-SF Lease at 55 Water Street

A teacher’s retirement benefits agency is putting down long-term roots in Manhattan’s Financial District, Commercial Observer has learned.

The New York City Board of Education Retirement Systems (BERS) signed a 30-year, 78,079-square-foot direct lease to remain on the 50th floor of 55 Water Street, a 52-story office building owned by Retirement Systems of Alabama, according to landlord broker CBRE.

Asking rent for the building was not disclosed, but the average asking rent for office space in Lower Manhattan was $61.14 per square foot in May, according to an office market report from CBRE.

BERS originally subleased 53,000 square feet on the 50th floor of 55 Water Street in 2019 from foreign exchange brokerage FXCM, in a deal that was set to expire in May, CO reported at the time.

The expansion part of the new deal gives BERS a roughly 7,700-square-foot retail spot on the ground floor, according to CBRE. BERS came to occupy the remaining 17,000 square feet of space on the 50th floor at some point during its time as a subtenant.

“With the successful conclusion of this transaction, the building has executed approximately 275,000 square feet of leases over the past year and a half,” CBRE’s Brad Gerla, who represented the landlord alongside Howard Fiddle, Evan Haskell and William Hooks, said in a statement.

Marc Shapses of Savills negotiated on behalf of BERS but did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Two of those deals at 55 Water Street mentioned by Gerla include financial services firm GFI Group expanding to 64,993 square feet on the 11th floor in November 2025, and transportation technology firm Verra Mobility signing a 57,149-square-foot sublease from the Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York in October 2025.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.