Less than a year after initially leasing over 50,000 square feet at 919 Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, the State of New York is expanding its presence at the office tower. The state’s Office of General Services has signed a new 15-year lease for an additional 66,000 square feet, according to a report from Commercial Observer. This brings the total state-occupied space at the property to more than 117,000 square feet.
The expansion covers the building’s top two floors and had an asking rent of $85 per square foot. CBRE’s Stephen Siegel, Liz Lash, and Peter Larkin represented the tenant in this deal. The landlord was represented by Robert Alexander, Ryan Alexander, and Emily Chabrier, also from CBRE.
With this latest agreement, all of the available space at the 1.5 million-square-foot, 47-story office building is now leased.
“Leasing velocity on Third Avenue has significantly increased this year, resulting in a notable shortage of large, high-quality availability,” SL Green executive vice president Steven Durels said in a statement.
In November last year, the New York State Executive Chamber—the Office of the Governor—entered into a seven-year lease for 53,000 square feet across two floors at 919 Third Avenue. That space was intended for Governor Kathy Hochul’s personal office as well as workspace for her staff and press operations.
Before settling on this location for its expansion, the Office of General Services evaluated potential leases at forty buildings and toured twenty options before choosing SL Green’s property.
Other tenants in the building include law firms Schulte Roth & Zabel and Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo as well as Bloomberg.
During the third quarter of this year, tenants across Manhattan leased approximately 9.4 million square feet—a slight increase from the previous quarter and nearly 27 percent above the five-year quarterly average. According to Colliers’ research (https://www.colliers.com/en/research/new-york-metro), total leasing volume for the full year exceeded 30 million square feet. This marks demand surpassing pre-pandemic levels and represents one of Manhattan’s strongest periods since 2002.
