Tech-centric residential brokerage Urban Compass has outgrown its current space at 155 Avenue of the Americas and is adding 9,000-square-foot digs at 19 Union Square West, The Real Deal has learned. Urban Compass will pay rents starting in the mid-$60s per square foot through May 2018 for the 10th-floor space at 19 Union Square W., according to CompStak data. It is subletting the space from Internet radio provider Pandora Media, which inked a 52,450-square-foot lease at SL Green Realty’s 125 Park Avenue in June, as TRD reported.
“We’re really excited about expanding into a second office less than a year after we launched,” said Sofia Song, a former top executive at StreetEasy who joined Urban Compass in January. “‘I’m happy to say that the company is growing as we continue to hire more of the city’s most experienced and smartest agents.”
The company is one of the most well-funded startups on the real estate scene, raising about $33 million since it launched, and recently snagged Town Residential broker Takeshi “Takk” Yamaguchi.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Ethan Silverstein represented Urban Compass in the sublease deal, while Pandora was represented by CBRE’s Ramsey Feher, William Iacovelli and Paul Holmes. None of the brokers could be immediately reached for comment.
Urban Compass launched in May and initially combined StreetEasy-style listings website with a team of salaried “neighborhood specialists” who functioned much like rental brokers. But in December, the firm changed its business model to one more in line with traditional brokerages, as TRD reported.