Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has signed one of the largest office leases in Manhattan this year. The law firm snagged 916,000 square feet at the 570 Fifth Avenue development in Midtown, according to a May Manhattan office report from Colliers.
The CRE brokerage noted that this was the second-largest office deal so far this year. Additionally, this deal made up 38.6 percent of the total demand that Manhattan's office sector saw in May.
Simpson Thacher's headquarters currently sit nearby at 425 Lexington Avenue. It's unclear whether the company plans to move out of that building or operate in both spaces.
The project at 570 Fifth Avenue is being developed by Extell Development, with KPF serving as the designer. In 2024, IKEA parent company Ingka Group acquired a one-third stake in the one million square foot mixed-use commercial project. The building will include 80,000 square feet of retail space for IKEA.
Colliers' report also revealed some other major leases, including Google's 410,556-square-foot renewal at 315 Hudson Street and Versant's 249,054-square-foot deal at 229 West 43rd Street. Rounding out the top five was Baker McKenzie and HDR, with 121,833 square feet and 74,436 square feet signings, respectively, at 10 Bryant Park and 7 Penn Plaza.
Overall, leasing was strong in Manhattan during May, with 4.24 million square feet in signings posted. That marked a 17.3 percent surge from the previous month and exceeded the 10-year average by over 50 percent. Midtown's activity more than doubled from April and exceeded the decade average by almost 75 percent.
Midtown average asking rents averaged $84.15 per square foot, a small decrease from the $84.42 per square foot posted in the prior month. The availability rate was flat at 12.5 percent in the submarket.
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