A full-service law firm is raising an objection to the downsizing trend plaguing Manhattan’s office market.
Greenspoon Marder LLP signed an eight-year agreement to sublease 41,000 square feet from CBS Broadcasting at the AllianceBernstein Building, a 50-story skyscraper at 1345 Sixth Avenue formerly known as the Burlington House.
The Fisher Brothers-owned building is fresh off a $120 million capital improvement project in 2021 that included exterior updates, an amenities floor and a public art installation.
With the move, Greenspoon is leaving behind a 25,000-square-foot sublease in the IBM Building at 590 Madison Avenue. The new sublease from CBS will provide almost twice as much space as it had before. It plans to move in by the end of the year.
Office expansions have become rare in the post-pandemic commercial real estate environment, as companies rush to downsize their office footprint in the wake of broadly adopted work-from-home policies.
Data provided by Colliers revealed that a record 94 million square feet of office space was available in Manhattan as of last month. Tenants leased just 1.5 million square feet in April, far below the month’s average from the previous three years.
Midtown was one of the few bright spots, accounting for more than half of the borough’s overall leasing output. But the IBM Building, owned by the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, has struggled to keep tenants of late.
Since 2017, Greenspoon had been subleasing its IBM Building space from another law firm, Crowell and Moring, on a lease that expires next year. Crowell signed a 71,000-square-foot lease at Two Manhattan West in Hudson Yards in December, meaning the IBM Building has lost both a key tenant and a subtenant in the last six months.
A Savills team including Jeffrey Peck and Daniel Horowitz brokered the deal on behalf of Greenspoon, while Cushman and Wakefield’s Bryan Boisi and Paul Ferrora represented CBS Broadcasting.
“Recognizing [Greenspoon Marder’s] unique needs, as it looks to grow and entice partners and staff back to the office, was key in our strategy and ultimately helped us to identify this turn-key space in one of the most highly amenitized buildings in Manhattan,” Peck said.