EY moving forward with Hudson Yards move: report

Accounting firm EY, formerly known as Ernst & Young, is moving forward with a deal to lease as much as 1 million square feet at Brookfield Property Partners’ [TRDataCustom] 1 Manhattan West.

The Big Four accounting firm plans to leave behind its 1-million-square-foot office at RXR Realty and David Werner’s 5 Times Square, Crain’s reported. The Real Deal reported in May that the firm was a mulling a move to take office space at both 1 Manhattan West and the Rockefeller Group’s 1271 Sixth Avenue. It appears the accounting company has instead opted to keep it simple by only moving into Brookfield’s new tower.

EY is among a few tenants who are ditching Times Square for Hudson Yards. Morgan Stanley is also considering moving to the Bjarke Ingels-designed office tower, the Spiral at 509 West 34th Street. The bank, which owns and occupies 1585 Broadway and 522 Fifth Avenue, has also shown interest in 50 Hudson Yards.

The departures would leave major office spaces empty in Times Square. Brokers say the flashy neighborhood is an increasingly hard sell for prospective tenants, who are often put off by the throngs of tourists and costumed characters they’d have to wade through to get to work. [Crain’s] —Kathryn Brenzel