Deutsche Bank shrinks footprint at future Columbus Circle home amid global downsizing

As it cuts 18,000 jobs worldwide amid a dramatic restructuring, Deutsche Bank is also scaling back on its future office space at Time Warner Center, more than a year before it’s scheduled to move in.

The German investment bank has exercised an option to return two floors at the building to the Related Companies, the New York Post reported citing sources. Though the two floors account for just 60,000 out of the company’s 1.1 million-square-foot lease, observers told the Post that further cutbacks through subleasing may be on the way.

Deutsche’s lease for its new home, signed last May, already represented a significant reduction from the bank’s current 1.6-million-square-foot footprint at 60 Wall Street, in which Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC now holds a 95 percent stake.

The firm will take possession of the space in January 2020, while relocation is expected to begin the following year.

The bank’s investment banking business has struggled in the wake of the financial crisis, and has more recently come under intense scrutiny for its decades-long ties with President Donald Trump. The recent job cuts represent about 1 in 5 jobs at the firm, with New York and London expected to be among the most heavily hit.

Meanwhile, commercial real estate lending has been one of Deutsche’s more profitable divisions, and industry insiders remain cautiously optimistic about the company’s commitment to that business. [NYP] — Kevin Sun