The NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services has signed a 20-year $77 million lease for space in Downtown Manhattan.
The deal will provide 80,800 square feet of office space at 14 Wall St. for employees at the Department for the Aging, according to a report from Crain's New York Business. The price comes in at $33 per square foot for the first five years, with the amount increasing every five years after that to a maximum of $44 per square foot on the building owned by billionaire investor Alexander Rovt.
The move will serve as a relocation for the Department of the Aging, which currently has offices on multiple stories at 2 Lafayette St.
Crain's noted that it appeared the city would take space at 250 Broadway instead, owned by AmTrust — but ultimately went with 14 Wall St. Louis Molina, commissioner of the DCAS, explained to Crain's that the decision made the most sense financially for taxpayers. A lease at 250 Broadway would have cost about $5 more per square foot or roughly $16 million in extra costs.
“I evaluated the deal, and it was clear that 14 Wall St. was the best economic deal for the city,” Molina told Crain's.
Jesse Hamilton, former deputy commissioner of real estate at DCAS, who resigned after being indicted on alleged corruption charges in August, previously pushed against a lease at 250 Broadway, which originally was the winning bid, according to Crain's. Molina declined to say if Hamilton's input was a deciding factor.
CBRE was involved in the lease negotiations.
Meanwhile, Manhattan continues to enjoy a remarkable office recovery since the pandemic. In August, Manhattan's office leasing increased by 20 percent month-over-month to reach 3.70 million square feet. Now, the NYC borough is on track in 2025 to exceed 40 million square feet in new signings annually for the first time since 2019.
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