Vornado Fills 175K SF at Sixth Avenue Office Tower

The law firm shuffle among Manhattan office space has notched another massive deal, with a national firm trading SL Green for Vornado Realty Trust.

King & Spalding signed a 175,000-square-foot lease to move to Vornado’s 1290 Sixth Avenue, the New York Post reported. The asking rent was $105 per square foot and left only 200,000 square feet available at the Midtown Manhattan tower.

The law firm is moving from SL Green’s 1185 Sixth Avenue, where it was a tenant for two decades. King & Spalding initially occupied 236,000 square feet at SL Green’s property, but only using 169,000 square feet most recently after subleasing the rest of its space.

King & Spalding is set to make its move and small expansion next year. SL Green declined to comment on the law firm’s departure to the Post, while Vornado didn’t confirm or comment on the law firm’s arrival.

Vornado is in the midst of a renovation at 1290 Sixth Avenue, which will see an update of the lobby, a massive curtain wall and the addition of wellness amenities. Investment firm Neuberger Berman occupies the largest share of the property, where it signed in 2015 for 400,000 square feet.

The Trump Organization owns a 30 percent stake in the property through a partnership that restricts a sale until 2044. The property is among the assets in Trump’s portfolio that could be endangered by a judge’s ruling in the New York trial centered on allegations Donald Trump inflated property values for financial benefit.

Law firms have provided hope to office landlords amid a bleak leasing market.

A few months ago, Vornado signed Selendy Gay Elsberg to a lease that expanded the law firm’s footprint by a third at the property to 101,000 square feet. Selendy had previously been subleasing from Venable, another law firm at the property.

Before 2023 came to an end, law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison signed a 20-year lease for 765,000 square feet at Fisher Brothers’ 1345 Sixth Avenue. The deal represented the year’s largest office lease in the country and New York’s largest lease in four years.

— Holden Walter-Warner