Manhattan’s Hudson Yards Lands Another Big One

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Conceptual rendering of 55 Hudson Yards, New York City

New York—The gargantuan Hudson Yards mixed-use development continues to lure big players to Manhattan’s far West Side, with Point72 Asset Management becoming the latest to make a major commitment to the $20 billion project being developed by Related Cos., Mitsui Fudosan America and Oxford Properties Group. Point72, the family office managing the assets of hedge fund legend Steven Cohen, has signed a letter of intent to lease 175,000 square feet at the 1.3 million-square-foot 55 Hudson Yards office tower.

“Point72’s decision to move to Hudson Yards is indicative of how forward-thinking leaders are approaching their office needs. They are consolidating their NYC offices and creating one state-of-the-art NYC headquarters where their employees can work in a more collaborative, modern space,” Jay Cross, president of Related Hudson Yards, told Commercial Property Executive.

It’s a relocation, it’s a consolidation, it’s an expansion. Point72—which owns its 98,900-square-foot principal business address, 72 Cummings Point Road in Stamford, Conn.—will bring its Manhattan staff from 510 and 330 Madison Ave. to 55 Hudson Yards, where they’ll have 20 percent more elbowroom. The firm’s new six-floor home will feature open office accommodations, cutting-edge trading floors, corporate event space and a private interview suite within the amenity-rich Hudson Yards city-within-a-city environment, which, come fall 2018, will boast a 1 million-square-foot retail center and 6-acre public plaza.

“We are also seeing companies continue to focus on their long-term needs of attracting and retaining top talent and the retail, dining and fitness amenities and vast open spaces are in keeping with the live, work, play environments employers and employees are drawn to,” Cross added.

The Point72 agreement, orchestrated on the company’s behalf by commercial real estate services firm Newmark Grubb Knight Frank with Hudson Yards leasing agent CBRE, materializes just two months after international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy signed a lease for 250,000 square feet at 55 Hudson Yards. Point72 and Milbank will share the tenant roster with law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner, which became the first office tenant to commit to the 51-story, Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed tower with an 83,000 lease agreement in June 2015.

The news just keeps pouring out of Hudson Yards. On May 31, the 26-acre development’s first office tenants moved in as Coach Inc. began relocating employees to its new 700,000-square-foot headquarters at the fully leased, 1.8 million-square-foot 10 Hudson Yards building. And last week, L’Oréal USA commenced its phased relocation to its new 400,000-square-foot headquarters at 10 Hudson Yards. Point72 plans to complete its lease agreement by year’s end, well in advance of 55 Hudson Yards’ scheduled 2018 debut.

Image courtesy of 55 Hudson Yards