MediaMath Signs 15-Year Lease in Downtown NYC

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

MediaMath has signed a 15-year, 106,000-square-foot lease at 4 World Trade Center, becoming the 72-floor tower’s first private-sector tenant.

The rent was not disclosed, but various published reports list the asking rent in the neighborhood of the mid-$70s a square foot. Reports also show that MediaMath received $5.8 million in incentives through the federally funded Job Creation and Retention Program offered jointly by Empire State Development and Economic Development Corporation.

“MediaMath has been blessed with outstanding growth over the past seven years, which is a testament to the market’s need for a transformation in digital marketing through software, and the service that makes it work for you,” Joe Zawadzki, the company’s CEO, said in a company release. “We want that software to be on the desktops and tablets of every professional marketer in the world; we worked hard to find a property and a developer that matched the scope of our vision.”

With the new lease, the global technology company will consolidate its more than 300 city-based employees from three Midtown locations into the 44th, 45th, and 46th floors of the building when it moves into the tower in early 2015.

Other companies that have made lease commitments to 4 World Trade Center recently include blue-chip tenants such as Condé Nast, Moody’s, GroupM, BMI, Omnicom, WilmerHale, Fast Company and Inc. magazines.

According to figures released by the Downtown Alliance, 511 firms have moved to Lower Manhattan since 2005, leasing a total of 12.3 million square feet and 226 of those companies have been in creative or professional services, taking 51 percent of the space leased.

“Over the past several years, Lower Manhattan has seen a surge of 5 million square feet of relocations,” Jessica Lappin, Alliance for Downtown New York’s president said in the release. “MediaMath’s move from Midtown is one more piece of evidence showing that the gravity of Lower Manhattan is only growing.”

Lease negotiations for MediaMath were handled by a CBRE team, led by Harly Stevens and Mike Rizzo.  Jeremy Moss, Director of World Trade Center Leasing for Silverstein Properties, together with the CBRE agency team including Mary Ann Tighe, Steve Siegel, Ken Meyerson and Evan Haskell led the negotiations for the landlord.

“MediaMath’s decision to relocate to 4 WTC proves that New Yorkers were right to bet on Downtown. The new World Trade Center is emerging as the commercial heart of the city’s hottest neighborhood,” Larry Silverstein, Silverstein Properties’ chairman, said in the release. “I am thrilled to welcome MediaMath, which represents the technology, advertising, media and information companies driving the City’s new economy and Downtown’s future.”