WeWork lands 120,000-sf lease at 222 Broadway

WeWork, the rapidly expanding collaborative workspace provider, has nailed down a 16-year lease for 120,537 square feet at 222 Broadway, the New York Observer reported.

The firm had been scouting the Financial District since early this year for its largest space yet — roughly 125,000 square feet, according to previous reports.

Asking rents for the 32-story, 750,000-square-foot office building are in the mid $50-range per square foot. The deal was handled David Berkey and Andrew Wiener, who work for building owner L&L Holding Company. Mark Lapidus of WeWork and Sean Black of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant.

Lower Manhattan is already home to many tech and new media companies, which typify WeWork’s clients.

“I’ve been telling whoever will listen that for two years now we’ve seen nothing but this kind of tenant here and at [L&L’s] 195 Broadway,” Berkey said. “We haven’t seen financial services or law firm tenants. It’s not a new phenomenon by any stretch.”

WeWork founder Adam Neumann is also leasing space for his company in other chic neighborhoods such as Tribeca and Soho, as The Real Deal first reported. [NYO] —Christopher Cameron