Town’s old office now “unrecognizable,” Compass says on moving day

Compass is expanding its Flatiron office footprint on top of the bones of Andrew Heiberger’s now-defunct Town Residential.

Just over year after Town shuttered due to pressures on the brokerage’s business, its first office on the sixth floor of 110 Fifth Avenue is about to be inhabited by Compass brokers, who begin migrating into the space today from the company’s current, crowded global headquarters two blocks away at 90 Fifth Avenue.

The SoftBank-backed brokerage secured the lease, which spans about 80,000 square feet over five floors, in January, according to New York general manager Rory Golod. He declined to comment on the price, but a year ago, when The Real Deal first reported Compass was eyeing space in the building in the immediate aftermath of Town’s closure, sources said the asking rent was $80 per square foot.

Town’s former birthplace is now “unrecognizable,” according to Golod. As part of renovating the new outpost, the sixth floor has been “fully gutted it down to the studs,” Golod explained.

He noted that each floor, when completed, will have amenities including pantries, lounge areas, private phone rooms, two large cafes, and guests will walk into a lobby styled like an Apple “Genius Bar-type” area outfitted with Compass’ technology for visitors to test out. Two of the floors will be interconnected by a staircase.

Broker and “chief evangelist” Leonard Steinberg said internal emails about the upcoming move have been circulating for months and there have been company-wide meetings to solicit agents’ input into the new office’s design.

The move-in begins today into floors two, three and six, but Compass won’t be fully settled in until late summer, once construction on floors four and five wraps up.

The office at 110 Fifth Avenue is Compass’ third in the Flatiron area. In addition to the brokerage’s headquarters, it also occupies the sixth floor at 111 Fifth Avenue, just below one of Douglas Elliman’s office.
Beyond the neighborhood, Compass, most recently valued at $4.4 billion, has been expanding throughout the city with a new office announced last October at 962 Madison Avenue.

Last month, the owners of 110 Fifth Avenue, Samson Management and Rabina Properties, landed a $109 million loan to refinance the property. Last year, Samson sued Town Residential to collect $438,299 in unpaid rent for its 16,600-square-foot office at the property. The case is ongoing.