Manhattan's West Side Continues to Draw Big Firms
Several big firms in 2019 moved to Manhattan's West Side or announced plans to move there, while others committed to central Midtown or downtown.
December 23, 2019 at 03:23 PM
3 minute read
55 Hudson Yards, the new home of three big firms. Photo by David Handschuh/NYLJ
A flurry of big firms this year moved to sleek new office towers in New York's Hudson Yards area, while others are planning a move to the West Side or other areas of the city soon.
The real estate moves were underway as New York rents rise, a swath of law firm leases expire and landlords offer concessions to incentivize relocations.
Several big firms had their eyes set on Manhattan's West Side in 2019, as the much-anticipated Hudson Yards redevelopment project, the largest private real-estate development in the country, opened in the first half of the year. Three firms—Milbank, Boies Schiller Flexner and Cooley—moved their New York operations to 55 Hudson Yards this year.
The firms will be right next to Facebook, which this year locked down a lease for 1.5 million square feet of office space in Hudson Yards across three office towers, with the bulk at 50 Hudson Yards.
McKool Smith doubled its New York office space when it moved last month to One Manhattan West, the first building to be completed in Brookfield Property Partners' Manhattan West project across the street from the Hudson Yards development. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom will also move to the building when its current lease in Times Square is up next year.
McKool Smith and Skadden's neighbor will eventually include Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which announced in October that it would be leaving its longtime digs at Worldwide Plaza in Midtown for the West Side. The firm will anchor Two Manhattan West and occupy 13 floors when it moves in five years.
Other law firms have considered the West Side but have not yet made announcements. Eyes are on Debevoise & Plimpton's next office location. The firm has been checking out Hudson Yards offices as well as other locations, according to ALM reporting and Crain's New York Business.
Not all law firms have committed to new developments near the Hudson River.
Although Hogan Lovells considered moving to Hudson Yards or the World Trade Center, it ultimately settled for Midtown East when it moved into its new office near Grand Central Terminal this spring.
Katten Muchin Rosenman secured a lease earlier this fall to move its 200 New York-based attorneys to a space at Rockefeller Plaza for a 2022 move. And Akerman will move from its space at 666 Fifth Ave. to join DLA Piper and Lowenstein Sandler at the Mitsui Fudosan America building at 1251 Avenue of the Americas in December 2020.
Meanwhile, in one of the few Big Law moves to downtown Manhattan, Cozen O'Connor will consolidate its two Midtown offices when it relocates to 3 World Trade Center by the end of 2020.
Read More:
Rents Rise—and Lease Expirations Loom—for New York Law Firms
Cravath to Move West to New Manhattan Office Tower
Akerman, Cozen O'Connor Set Sights on NY Growth With New Office Space
McKool Smith Nearly Doubles Manhattan Space in New West Side Office
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