WeWork makes first move in Plaza District

Co-working giant takes 60K sf at Charles S. Cohen's 135 E. 57th St.

WeWork's Miguel McKelvey and Adam Neumann, 135 West 57th Street and Charles S. Cohen
WeWork's Miguel McKelvey and Adam Neumann, 135 West 57th Street and Charles S. Cohen

WeWork is planning its first co-working space in The Plaza District, New York’s most expensive office market.

The office-sharing giant, recently valued at $16 billion, took 60,000 square feet at Charles. S Cohen’s 135 East 57th Street, also known as Tower 57.

Asking rent at the space was $80 per square foot, the New York Post reported, citing sources familiar with the deal. The lease will last for 13 years.

With the deal, Cohen’s 300,000-square-foot office is now about 80 percent leased, the Post reported.

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Savitt Partners’ Schoen team represented WeWork in the negotiations. Marc Horowitz represented Cohen in house.

WeWork raised $430 million in its most recent fundraising round in March. China-based private equity firm Hony Capital and its parent company, Legend Holdings, were the lead investors.

The Real Deal reported last week that Arana Hankin, WeWork’s senior vice president of external affairs, bundled $68,750 in campaign donations for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s re-election, more than any other bundler.

The company has 23 locations in the city at present, according to its website. WeWork is one of the biggest tenants in the city, with at least 2.8 million square feet of space leased. [NYP]Ariel Stulberg