Empire State Realty Trust has signed a direct lease with Centric Brands for 212,154 square feet at the Empire State Building. The space was previously leased to Global Brands Group and occupied by Centric Brands under a sublease.
As part of Centric Brands' reorganization, it considered all their options for their offices, according to CEO Anthony E. Malkin. "It is gratifying that they chose to restack and make a long-term commitment to the Empire State Building," he said in prepared remarks.
Peter Riguardi, Joseph Messina, and Cynthia Wasserberger from JLL represented Centric Brands in the transaction. Landlord representation was provided by Anthony E. Malkin, Ryan Kass, and Shanae Ursini from ESRT.
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The deal offers a bright note for what has been a largely dismal year for Manhattan after the pandemic struck.
Manhattan leasing activity totaled just 2.57 million square feet in Q3 2020, with Midtown registering 2.01 million square feet, Downtown 455,000 square feet and Midtown South 104,000 square feet, according to CBRE.
One characteristic of this pandemic-driven market has been the reluctance of tenants to make long-term decisions, according to Nicole LaRusso, director of Research and Analysis for CBRE Tri-State.
Not surprisingly, sublease space has increased markedly, CBRE also reported. A total of 14.31 million square feet of sublease space is available in Manhattan, up from 11.22 million square feet at the end of Q2 2020, and currently accounting for 25% of total available space.
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
