One and Two Manhattan West. (Photo: Architectural rendering courtesy of Brookfield)Cravath to Move West to New Manhattan Office Tower
The new space in the Hudson Yards area will have a somewhat smaller footprint, in line with legal industry trends that favor reducing attorney office space and eliminating huge law libraries.
October 04, 2019 at 12:17 PM
3 minute read
Cravath, Swaine & Moore has confirmed that it is moving its New York headquarters to a new office tower, Two Manhattan West, in five years, a significant change for the Wall Street firm, which has been at its current location at Worldwide Plaza in Midtown for 30 years.
The move means Cravath is moving to a somewhat smaller footprint, in line with legal industry trends that favor reducing attorney office space and eliminating space for huge law libraries. In a Friday announcement, Cravath said it will anchor the building, occupying 13 full floors at Brookfield Properties' Two Manhattan West—floors 25 through 37—covering about 481,000 square feet.
According to a 2013 Morningstar ratings report about the firm's current location at Worldwide Plaza, Cravath has leased about 617,135 square feet there, paying an estimated $54 million in annual base rent. Cravath has been in the building at 825 Eighth Ave.—reportedly dubbed "the Death Star" by associates in the past—since 1989, and its lease expires in 2024.
However, the firm has sublet to a few businesses, including McCarter & English, and its actual office space use is about 540,000.
ALM reported earlier this year that Cravath was in serious discussions with Brookfield Properties for the move, a tower not yet built at 31st Street and 9th Avenue but expected to be completed by 2023. The building is planned to be a 58-story, 1.9-million-square-foot office tower.
Two Manhattan West is part of the Hudson Yards area of Manhattan. The building is about 18 blocks south and one block west of Cravath's current office space. Cravath's neighbors will include Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and McKool Smith, which plan to move into new offices in the neighboring office tower at One Manhattan West.
Cravath said the space which will serve as the base for the firm's U.S. operations in a "brand new space custom-built for a 21st-century law firm."
"We are pleased to partner with Brookfield in creating our new headquarters in this vibrant New York City neighborhood," said Faiza Saeed, Cravath's presiding partner, in a statement on Friday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In a statement, Ben Brown, managing partner of Brookfield Property Group, said he was "thrilled Cravath, one of the nation's leading law firms, will anchor Two Manhattan West, joining our community of tenants at Manhattan West that represent those at the top of their fields." Brown noted the Manhattan West development features "modern office space, dynamic amenities, attractive design and unrivaled transportation access."
Cravath was represented in the deal by Lewis Miller, Andrew Sussman, Cara Chayet and Munish Viralam of CBRE. Brookfield was represented by Bruce Mosler and Josh Kuriloff of Cushman & Wakefield, and in-house by Duncan McCuaig and P.J. Massey.
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Cravath in Talks for Manhattan West Move Amid Law Firm Real Estate Flurry
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