Bloomberg campaign rent expenditures surge

William Thompson (left), Michael Bloomberg

Rent expenditures for Michael Bloomberg’s campaign for a third term as mayor of New York City are 71 percent higher than what they were at the same point in his 2005 campaign, election finance records released this week show.

The billionaire mayor is also far outspending his chief rival, with records showing he spent 13 times as much on office rent this year as Comptroller William Thompson.

The 2009 Bloomberg campaign paid $873,859 in office rent through July 11, the latest filing deadline for the New York City Campaign Finance Board, published this week. That represents a 71 percent increase over the $510,509 he had spent on rent at the same point in the 2005 campaign, the records show.

In addition, he spent $30,124 on real estate broker fees this cycle, about three times the $9,000 he spent through July 2005, the report said.

His total campaign expenditures through July 11, the most recent reporting period, are $36.5 million.

In sharp contrast, Thompson spent just $67,000 in office rent payments this year, the filings show, and there were no broker fees listed.

He has spent a total of $2.3 million this cycle overall.

Bloomberg is paying $125,000 per month for his campaign headquarters at 1065 Avenue of the Americas at 40th Street. The campaign signed a one-year lease that began in January for the entire 34,000-square-foot fifth floor, according to an industry source, putting the price per square foot at about $44.

Thompson campaign filings show the monthly rent at his campaign headquarters on the seventh floor of 99 Madison Avenue, at the corner of 29th Street, is $12,000. Each floor is about 7,400 square feet, according to MrOfficeSpace.com, making the rent about $19 per square foot.

Bloomberg is also paying for 10 campaign office spaces in Upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs, included as part of the overall rent payments. The Thompson filing also lists rent payments for an office in Brooklyn, the filing shows.

In addition to rent, the billionaire mayor spent $978,891 on leasehold improvements, with nearly all of that billed by the office design firm the Switzer Group, and an additional $2.3 million on information technology infrastructure, with about half of that going to Washington-based media consulting firm Connections Media. The filing does not identify on what office the money was spent.