55 Water St. in Lower Manhattan

NEW YORK CITY—Justworks has signed a long-term lease, and will move its headquarters to 270,000 square feet at the New Water Street Corp.'s downtown Manhattan office tower at 55 Water St. in the beginning of Q2 2020.

The online tech company that handles payroll, benefits, HR and compliance will occupy the entire 27th floor and floors 29 through 31 in the 3.8 million square-foot downtown office building. The average asking rent in the recently repositioned building is $58 per square foot.

With its continued growth, Justworks is more than doubling its space, relocating from the Starrett-Lehigh building at 601 W. 26th St. where it currently occupies 99,000 square feet. In 2018, it had increased in size from the 60,000 square feet of its initial office space.

“This long-term commitment is a first for Justworks and a testament to our proven success in delivering on our mission to help entrepreneurs and businesses grow with confidence,” says Isaac Oates, founder and CEO of Justworks. “Having gotten our start in Downtown Manhattan seven years ago, we are proud to call 55 Water St. home for the next phase of our journey.”

“Justworks' 270,000-square-foot commitment further demonstrates the strong demand by top firms for quality office space in the Downtown Manhattan office market, which has become a hotbed for activity among creative and technology firms,” says Dan Palino, COO at New Water Street Corp.

He notes the building's large floor plates, infrastructure, back-up power and long hours of operation were key factors in his company's selection of the building. He adds the high quality, hands-on ownership and amenities also provided reasons for Justworks' leasing decision.

CBRE's Howard Fiddle, Evan Haskell, Brad Gerla, Dave Caperna and Mary Ann Tighe represented the building owner New Water Street Corp., a subsidiary of the Retirement Systems of Alabama.

“55 Water St. has historically serviced the financial services industry but is well-positioned to meet the needs of 'new economy' tenants, particularly in the tech industry,” states Fiddle.

Chris Helgesen, Peter Trivelas, Dirk Hrobsky and Gary Ceder of Cushman & Wakefield represented Justworks in the deal.