IBM Opens Manhattan Flagship Office

IBM has opened its 270,000-square-foot flagship office at One Madison Avenue, a 1.4 million-square-foot building in Manhattan. Based in Armonk, N.Y., the Fortune 100 firm signed the 16-year, five-floor lease in 2022.

IBM is moving all its New York-area departments to One Madison Avenue, which will house more than 2,000 of its employees. Full occupancy is slated for next month.

Designed by Gensler, IBM’s space features a 300-person auditorium, a 25,000-square-foot rooftop terrace and a bar, as well as a separate, expansive street-level lobby. Additionally, the company will use a 22,000 square-foot Innovation Studio, alongside individual and collaboration areas.

The news came on the heels of IBM’s lease for 320,000 square feet at Cousins Properties’ Domain 12 building in Austin, Texas. The company will assume Meta Platform’s existing commitment starting January 2026.

One Madison Avenue, up close

SL Green acquired the office tower in 2005 for $801.7 million. In May 2020, the National Pension Service of Korea and Hines purchased a 49.5 percent stake in the property for $493 million. Later, in December 2021, SL Green sold an additional 25 percent interest in the building to a foreign investor.

The Class A, 27-story building came online in 1893 and was completely renovated last year, according to CommercialEdge. The project also involved extending the space by 500,000 square feet.

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The ownership took out a $1.3 billion construction loan in 2020 and a $575 million note in 2022 from Wells Fargo Bank for this endeavor. Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates designed the $2.3 billion redevelopment, while AECOM Tishman Construction served as general contractor.

Amenities now include a barista coffee bar, an event space and rooftop garden dubbed Le Jardin sur Madison, a 6,200-square-foot interior lounge and an outdoor terrace, as well as nearly 1.3 acres of outdoor space and bike storage. The tower also has a four-level, 60,000-square-foot fitness center.

The proposed LEED Gold-certified building is at 1 Madison Ave., less than 1 mile from the Empire State Building and 2 miles from Rockefeller Center.

Manhattan’s office market improves

Manhattan’s office vacancy rate clocked in at 16.6 percent as of July, down 90 basis points year-over-year, according to the latest CommercialEdge office report. The rate was also 1.5 percent below the national average. Additionally, the market’s listing rate during the same month was $71.34, more than double the U.S. figure.

In July, CBRE extended its approximately 180,000-square-foot lease at 200 Park Ave. in Manhattan. The brokerage firm also took over the duties of leasing, property and asset management at Irvine Co.’s tower.

Earlier this year, HSBC opened its headquarters at The Spiral at Hudson Yards. The company will occupy 265,000 square feet at Tishman Speyer’s 66-story office for 20 years.