A beating received at the hands of Hurricane Sandy was not enough to stop 32 Old Slip from attracting its second major tenant in less than a month. The U.S. Census Bureau will take over more than 40,000-square-feet at the building, located along the East River near the South Street Seaport, Crain’s reported. The Bureau will occupy the entire ninth floor of the building, as well as some space on the eighth floor at a cost of somewhere in the low $40’s per square foot. [more]

The New York State Society of CPAs will be moving its headquarters from 3 Park Avenue in Midtown to a less expensive home at 14 Wall Street in the Financial District, Crain’s reported. The NYSSCPA, one of the country’s largest accounting organizations with almost 30,000 members, will take over an entire 37,000-square-foot floor at the property at a cost of somewhere between $40 and $50 per square foot. It is a ten-year lease. [more]

Construction firm Hunter Roberts is moving across the neighborhood. Currently located at 2 World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan, the firm will move over to the 36-story 32 Old Slip, Crain’s reported. Hunter Roberts will set up shop on the tower’s 10th floor, a 37,000-square-foot space. Beacon Capital Partners, the property’s owner, was asking rent in the $40s per square foot. The area around 32 Old Slip got slammed during Hurricane Sandy in October. [more]

Hurricane? What hurricane? Despite the damages that Sandy visited upon Downtown in late October, the commercial real estate market fared relatively well. In the fourth quarter of 2012, commercial leasing Downtown reached 1.2 million square feet — a 9 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2011, according to CBRE. [more]

[caption id="attachment_223891" align="alignright" width="300"] Adam Neumann at WeWork’s 175 Varick Street location[/caption]

The rapidly expanding office suite company WeWork is scouting the Financial District for its largest space yet, Crain’s reported. WeWork is considering a 125,000-square-foot lease at 222 Broadway. The 32-story, 750,000-square-foot office building was acquired by Beacon Capital and L & L Holding Company for $230 million. The company is looking to secure the downtown location as rising rents and limited supply have prompted some tenants to leave the tech-heavy Midtown South, sources told Crain’s. WeWork founder Adam Neumann has been busy snagging space for his company in chic neighborhoods such as Tribeca and Soho…. [more]

Verizon, attempting to replace all underground copper wiring in Lower Manhattan with fiber-optic cables in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, says it has run into problems with landlords, the telecommunications firm said in a petition to state regulators. Some landlords have allegedly refused to let Verizon through their doors altogether, while others have demanded fees for entry, the New York Times reported. [more]

Hotel developer Sam Chang has sold a five-story, 22,600-square-foot mixed-use building in the Financial District for $19 million, according to public records filed with the city today. Located at 98 Greenwich Street between Rector and Carlisle streets, the site sits behind a Holiday Inn property that Chang is reportedly developing at 99 Washington Street. The Holiday Inn, slated to be 50 stories tall, will be the hotel chain’s tallest property. [more]

In a heartening sign for the post-Sandy Lower Manhattan office market, HarperCollins Publishers is in talks to sign a roughly 200,000-square-foot lease at 195 Broadway, Crain’s reported. Built in 1916, 195 Broadway is the erstwhile headquarters of AT&T and Western Union. The 29-story tower is located between Dey and Fulton streets. As The Real Deal previously reported, HarperCollins’ 240,000-square-foot lease at 10 East 53rd Street in Midtown expires in 2014. The Lower Manhattan office market is showing a resurgence after being battered by Hurricane Sandy, which shuttered many office buildings in the area…. [more]

World Financial Center In preparation for Brookfield Office Properties’ $250 million renovation of the World Financial Center, Cosi Sandwich Bar and the fashion jeweler Erwin Pearl have closed, according to the development’s website. The World Financial Center, located on the Hudson River waterfront in Lower Manhattan, contains more than eight million square feet of office space. The mammoth renovation effort aims to transform the center’s retail and public space into a shopping and dining destination with a European-style marketplace and waterfront dining…. [more]

A six-story commercial office building in the Financial District has traded hands for $11.2 million in an end-of-year off-market deal, The Real Deal has learned. Ronnie Oved, who owns a number of budget hotels and hostels in Manhattan, purchased the property from the Krinick Family. The 25,039-square-foot building, 19 Beekman Street at Nassau Street, is populated primarily by medical tenants and small retailers. The building comes with 46,160 square feet of air rights, making it ripe for further commercial development. [more]