Facebook in talks for huge new office in Midtown South

Facebook is in talks to continue its expansion in Silicon Alley with a huge new office in Midtown South.

The social media giant is negotiating to lease all of the office space at the 870,000 square-foot 63 Madison Avenue in the Nomad District, sources told The Real Deal.

It wasn’t immediately clear if a lease has been signed, but sources familiar with the negotiations described the deal as a fait acompli. If the deal goes through, Facebook will occupy more than 2 million square feet in Manhattan.

A spokesperson for Facebook could not immediately be reached for comment. A partnership of George Comfort & Sons, Loeb Partners Realty and Jamestown owns the 15-story building. Representatives for the owners also could not immediately be reached for comment.

The 1960s-era building, which fronts the full block along Madison Avenue between East 27th and East 28th Streets, sits just a short walk away from Facebook’s offices at 225 Park Avenue South.

Current tenants at 63 Madison, including the insurance company FOJP Service, were interested in renewing their leases. But sources said Facebook came in and bumped the tenants from the space.

Asking rents at the property are in the high $80s/low $90s per square foot. Jamie Katcher at Cushman & Wakefield is representing Facebook. He could not be immediately reached for comment.

Facebook now occupies around 900,000 square feet at Vornado Realty Trust’s 770 Broadway after expanding in the space formerly occupied by J. Crew earlier this year.

The company also occupies shy of 400,000 square feet at 225 Park Avenue South, where it first signed a lease in 2016.

Loeb Partners Realty and George Comfort purchased 63 Madison Avenue in 1995, and in 2016 sold a 49-percent interest to Jamestown.