MetLife returning to namesake Midtown tower

500K sf in 200 Park Avenue will become the insurer’s sole New York City location

200 Park Avenue in Midtown
200 Park Avenue in Midtown

UPDATED, March 18, 5:08 p.m.: MetLife signed a lease to increase its space at 200 Park Avenue, the Midtown building that bears its name, to 500,000 square feet.

The insurance giant is planning to close its other New York City offices and consolidate all operations in the building. Currently, it has locations at 1065 Sixth Avenue on Bryant Park, 277 Park Avenue in Midtown, and in Long Island City, the New York Post reported. MetLife was headquartered in 200 Park Avenue for many years before it dispersed across the city.

MetLife was represented by Cushman & Wakefield’s Bruce Mosler and John Cefaly in the deal.  The insurer will begin to shift employees to 200 Park Avenue  in December 2016 and complete the moves in the first half of 2017, it said.

Late last year, it was reported that MetLife was negotiating a lease at the building, but a spokesperson denied that it was planning a move.

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To open up the third through fifth floors for MetLife, the current tenant on those floors, Barclays, agreed to surrender its lease to Tishman Speyer, the building’s manager and part-owner.

Billionaire Donald Bren was recently revealed to be them majority owner of the MetLife building, holding a 97.3 percent stake in the property. With a net worth of $15.2 billion, Bren is the wealthiest real estate investor in the country, and got his start by building a house in Newport Beach, Calif. [NYP] — Tess Hofmann