Gannett Co. Inks Midtown Manhattan Sublease

1675 Broadway

Gannett Co., one of country’s largest newspaper publishers, has signed a 24,195-square-foot sublease for the entire 23rd floor at Rudin Management’s 1675 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan. The mass media holding company is planning to relocate its corporate offices from 1633 Broadway, with move-in planned for March. In January, Industrial Realty Group LLC picked up five of Gannett’s printing facilities in Ohio, Indiana and Florida, with the seller leasing back a large portion of the properties.

CBRE is acting as subleasing agent for the 545,000-square-foot space at Rudin’s 800,000-square-foot, 35-story tower. The 10-year agreement, marking the third sublease arranged by the brokerage at the location, included an asking rent of mid-$60s per square foot. Since COVID-19 destabilized the New York City office market, subleases have represented a significant portion of deals, making up 26.5 percent of Manhattan’s total availability in the fourth quarter, according to a recent Transwestern report.

CommercialEdge data shows that Publicis North America is the main tenant at 1675 Broadway, holding a more than 500,000-square-foot lease since 2015, with an expiration date in 2031. In mid-2019, the French media conglomerate renewed its 680,000-square-foot lease at 375 Hudson St., taking on an additional 280,000 square feet at the property. In an effort to gather its workforce under one roof, Publicis’ employees were relocated to the Hudson Square building, including staff at 1675 Broadway. Other tenants at 1675 Broadway include law firms Davis & Gilbert, Ballard Spahr and Roberts & Holland.

Subleasing on the rise

Coming in at only 3 million square feet, Manhattan’s office leasing activity in the fourth quarter of 2020 hit a record low since 2006, registering a whopping 77 percent year-over-year decrease. Asking rates dropped to $75.63, 6.8 percent less than in 2019, while availability reached 14.8 percent, the highest since the last recession. Only seven leases inked in the fourth quarter were in excess of 100,000 square feet, and only two of those were new commitments, both being subleases, Transwestern reported.

Gregg Rothkin, John Maher, Paul Myers, Mike Wellen, Alex Bennisato and Cara Chayet were part of the CBRE team working on behalf of the sublandlord, while Gordon Ogden and Nick Gilman of Byrnam Wood represented Gannett.