WeWork Cuts NYC Leases at Kushner, Vanbarton Buildings

WeWork’s bankruptcy filing has more trouble in store for already struggling New York City office owners as it seeks to immediately ditch a slew of spaces.

Kushner and RFR’s Dumbo office building, Vanbarton’s Midtown tower at 980 Sixth Avenue and a handful of locations owned by smaller landlords are among the 40 leases the co-working firm moved to reject as part of its restructuring in bankruptcy court.

A number of the leases are around in or near Manhattan’s Garment District, an area home to many older Class B office buildings and among the hardest hit by pandemic-era work policies.

Leaflet map created by Adam Farence | Data by © OpenStreetMap, under ODbl.

WeWork also plans to cut leases in Downtown Manhattan and Northern Brooklyn. Among the properties named in the filing are Kushner and RFR’s 81 Prospect Street in Dumbo, where WeWork was the second largest tenant.

Vanbarton refinanced 980 Sixth Avenue, known as the Hollingsworth, for $240 million in March 2020, the month that pandemic shutdowns began. WeWork reportedly leased 75,000 square feet at the tower, which has 380 luxury apartments and a retail component.

The proposed rejected leases are in buildings owned by mid-sized and institutional landlords.

WeWork has already moved out and closed its operations where it is seeking to ditch its lease.

“The debtors’ lease portfolio has been, and continues to be, a significant contributing factor to their current financial challenge,” the company said in a filing in bankruptcy court. “Rejecting the leases will help ease the debtors’ cash burn and increase the debtors’ liquidity.”

The company, working with real estate advisor Hilco, is in active negotiations with 400 landlords to rework its leases in markets across the country.

Property Address	Landlord
1 Little W 12th St New York, NY 10014	Bobby Cayre – Aurora
1 Union Square West New York, NY 10003	Lori Buchbinder – Buchbinder & Warren (management company)
10 East 38th Street New York, NY 10016	XSuresh Sani, First Pioneer Realty
l0 East 40th Street New York, NY 10016	Attorney Larry Wohl
1156 6th Avenue New York, NY 10036	APF Properties
130 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016	Walter & Samuels
161 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10013	Stellar Management
1619 Broadway 11th Floor New York, NY 10019	Mack Real Estate Group
183 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016	APF Properties
200 Broadway New York, NY 10038	Westfield
205 Hudson St New York, NY 10013	Trinity Wall Street
22 Cortlandt Street New York, NY 10007	Moshe Drizin
229 West 36th Street 4th floor New York, NY 10018	Investcorp
255 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10007	Jack Resnick and Sons
261 Madison Ave New York, NY 10016	Sapir
28 West 44th Street New York, NY 10036	APF Proerties
311 W 43rd St. New York, NY 10036	Divco
315 W 36th Street New York, NY 10017	Walter & Samuels
38 West 21st Street New York, NY 10010	Jack Vogel Associates
419 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016	Walter & Samuels
437 5th Avenue New York, NY 10016	Joseph P Daly Real Estate – Larry Wohl
437 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022	William Kaufman Org.
44 Wall Street New York, NY 10005	Gaedeke Group
483 Broadway New York, NY 10013	The Cayre Group
500 5th Avenue New York, NY 10110	Moises Cosio
505 Park Avenue New York, NY 10011	Yeung Yin Chi – Glorius Sun
511 West 25th Street New York, NY 10011	Artemis Real Estate Properties
54 W 40th St New York, NY 10018	Allied Partners
599 Broadway New York, NY 10011	Prima Capital Advisors
6 East 32nd Street New York, NY 10016	Himmel & Meringoff
7 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011	ASB Capital Management
8 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018	Jack Resnick & Sons
81 Prospect Street Brooklyn, NY 11201	RFR & Kushner Companies
980 6th Avenue New York, NY 10018	Vanbarton Group
77 Sands St Brooklyn, NY 11201	RFR Kushner