Bloomberg LP, the media company founded in 1981 by future three-term mayor Michael Bloomberg, just gave Midtown’s sleepiest office corridor some much-needed adrenaline.
In a surprise to commercial market watchers, Bloomberg signed a nearly 1 million-square-foot lease extension and expansion at SL Green’s 919 Third Ave. between East 55th and 56th streets. The 47-story tower is known as the “PJ Clarke building” for the 1884 two-story saloon structure on the corner that is considered part of the property.
Bloomberg extended its existing 749,035-square-foot lease for 11 years starting in March 2029. At the same time, it signed for an additional 175,841 square feet on a portion of the 34th floor and all floors 35 and 41-44 .
Talks of big office deals with big-name companies usually hit the media long before deals are finalized – but no word was leaked this time.
Bloomberg, which has grown steadily at 919 Third since it first moved into the tower in 2015, clearly isn’t listening to claims that “working from home” means smaller corporate footprints. Earlier this year, the company extended its lease at 731 Lexington Ave. headquarters until 2040.
While Third Avenue suffers Midtown’s highest vacancy rate of over 20% — a market-wide drag — 919 Third’s 1.5 million square feet is 92.1% leased. Other major office tenants include financial legal specialists Schulte Roth & Zabel and law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo.
A commercial broker, who was not involved in the deal but did not want to be named, commented: “Maybe all the dead Avenue jokes were premature.”
The Bloomberg deal marks another breakthrough for SL Green, which has signed about 2.8 million square feet of Manhattan office space this year. The city’s largest commercial landlord expects to complete more than 3.3 million square feet of deals by the end of 2024.
SLG is also closing on 1.1 million square feet in potential new Manhattan leases, including term sheets and deals in negotiation.
Steven Durels, executive vice president and director of leasing for SL Green, said: “The overall pace of leasing continues to increase as tenants prioritize their preference for well-located, upgraded and equipped buildings.”
Bloomberg was represented at 919 Third by CBRE’s Howard Fiddle, Chris Mansfield, Zach Weil and Ryan Luck. SL Green was represented by Robert Alexander, Ryan Alexander, Emily Chabrier, Taylor Callahan, Alex D’Amario and Nicole Marshall of CBRE.
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