Media company Nielsen hasn’t found a sublet for its Midtown South office space but is already nearing a deal for replacement space in bargain-friendly Lower Manhattan. The Wall Street Journal reported that it is negotiating for about 160,000 square feet at 85 Broad Street, the former headquarters of Goldman Sachs.
Nielsen is currently located at 770 Broadway, a Vornado Realty Trust building on East Ninth Street that also houses AOL, Huffington Post and J. Crew. In June, it commissioned CBRE Group to find a taker for its 158,000 square feet.
Meanwhile, Nielsen is joining a flurry of media companies that have moved downtown in recent years, led by Conde Nast. Like its media predecessors, Nielsen is moving downtown in search of cheaper rents. Prices in Midtown South have climbed as high as $60 per square-foot, $20 more per foot than prime downtown buildings charge.
Rents downtown are stumbling because many financial firms moved to Midtown after the 9/11 attacks and those that remain are increasingly consolidating, the Journal said. [WSJ]