BXP Lands Major NYC Lease Renewal, Expansion
A fashion company is bringing its local associates to this Times Square tower.
BXP has signed an approximately 246,000-square-foot, 20-year lease renewal and expansion with KnitWell Group at 7 Times Square in New York City. The lease covers the existing roughly 191,000 square feet, plus two additional full floors that total a further 55,000 square feet.
KnitWell COO Patrick Walsh referenced the advantages of bringing all of the company’s New York–based associates into one building, given the need to collaborate across functions and brands. KnitWell’s fashion brands include Ann Taylor, Chico’s, Lane Bryant, Soma and Talbots. Chico’s, Soma and White House Black Market were added only in the past few weeks.
7 Times Square was developed by BXP in the heart of Manhattan’s Midtown and recently underwent an amenities enhancement with conferencing, client lounge and café services added. Its location puts the building in the middle of numerous transportation and dining options, as well as near Bryant Park.
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The 47-story, 1.3 million-square-foot, Class A+ property, also known as Times Square Tower, was completed in 2004, according to information provided by CommercialEdge.
A CBRE team led by Vice Chairmen Eric Deutsch and Ken Meyerson, Executive Vice President Jared Freede, Senior Vice President Ariel Ball and First Vice President Elliot Bok represented KnitWell in the lease negotiations.
Forward strides
The Manhattan office market has seen a recent surge of leasing activity, hitting nearly 7 million square feet in the year’s final quarter, which was 41 percent ahead of the five-year quarterly average, according to a fourth-quarter report from CBRE. Full-year leasing for 2024 hit 23.5 million square feet, which was a 24 percent increase over 2023.
And those figures didn’t reflect a situation of “musical buildings,” either. Net absorption for 2024 was nearly 7 million square feet, which in turn helped push the average availability down by 150 basis points from a year prior.
In October, Blue Owl Capital expanded its lease at Manhattan’s Seagram Building, from 168,597 to 238,673 square feet. Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant, and owner RFR Realty had in-house representation.
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