Empire State Realty Tenant Expands to 141 KSF

One Grand Central Place. Image courtesy of Empire State Realty Trust

Empire State Realty Trust has signed iCapital to a long-term, 59,200-square-foot lease agreement that expands the global fintech company’s occupancy at One Grand Central Place in Manhattan to a total of more than 141,200 square feet.

The expansion brings the company’s footprint to six full floors at the approximately 1.3 million-square-foot, 55-story tower. CBRE assisted the tenant, while the landlord had both Newmark and in-house representation.

Designed by architect Kenneth Norton of J.E.R. Carpenter, One Grand Central Place first opened its doors in 1930. Once known as the Lincoln Building, the property at 60 E. 42nd St. took on a new incarnation as a desired office destination in 2008, following an $85 million renovation and repositioning as One Grand Central Place. Neighbors in the high-rise, which also features 26,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, include information services firm GLG, investment company 3i and tech firm ServiceNow.

iCapital made its first commitment to One Grand Central Place in 2017, signing a full-floor lease of 17,500 square feet after falling hard for the office space’s private outdoor terrace and the property’s in-building access to Grand Central Station. It has since inked new deals to accommodate growth on a few occasions; the most recent expansion marks its fourth. The previous lease, in October 2021, involved the relocation of multiple tenants in the building.

Sign of improvement

iCapital’s decision to stay put and take on extra elbowroom at One Grand Central Place was not an unusual move among Manhattan office users in the second quarter of 2022, as the flight to quality—or the commitment to it—remains a priority for businesses seeking to land and retain top talent. Manhattan’s office leasing activity in the second quarter reached 5.5 million square feet, 81 percent of which consisted of Class A product, according to research from JLL.

“As companies made lease commitments, an increasing number of tenants relocated to better quality offices or expanded their footprints within their existing buildings. Relocations and expansions accounted for 55 percent of total leasing activity in Q2, compared to 40 percent pre-COVID-19,” according to the JLL report. Meta expanded by 300,000 square feet at 700 Broadway in the second quarter, Blackstone took on an extra 330,000 square feet at 601 Lexington and Citadel grew its footprint at 425 Park Ave. by nearly 84,000 square feet.

iCapital turned to CBRE’s Lauren Crowley Corrinet, Al Golod and Christopher Hogan for representation in the lease transaction at One Grand Central Place, while ESRT relied on Newmark’s Erik Harris, Neil Rubin, Scott Klau and William Cohen and in-house assistance from Ryan Kass and Jordan Berger.