Debevoise signs big lease at Tishman Speyer’s Spiral

Law firm turned to new target following Facebook’s Hudson Yards megalease

The Spiral and Debevoise presiding partner Michael W. Blair (Credit: Tishman Speyer)
The Spiral and Debevoise presiding partner Michael W. Blair (Credit: Tishman Speyer)

Tishman Speyer’s Hudson Yards office tower, the Spiral, is now more than half leased — in part thanks to Facebook.

Law firm Debevoise & Plimpton has signed a 20-year lease at the 65-story development at 66 Hudson Boulevard, the Wall Street Journal first reported. The firm will occupy 530,000 square feet lease across floors 40 through 52 of the building.

Debevoise was previously reported to be near a major lease across the street at the Related Companies’ 50 Hudson Yards, but Facebook’s 1.5 million-square-foot lease spanning three Hudson Yards buildings — including about 1.2 million square feet at 50 HY — led to a change of plans.

“There is obviously a limited amount of new construction in the city, and much of it is located on the far West Side in the Hudson Yards district,” Debevoise presiding partner Michael Blair told the Journal. Tishman told the publication that the deal came together in just three months.

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The law firm, currently headquartered at 919 Third Avenue in East Midtown, will move into its new digs in the second half of 2022.

Debevoise’s new lease is yet another example of the outsized impact tech tenants have had on office leasing in New York City in recent years. This effect has been most apparent in Midtown South, including Hudson Yards, where 61 percent of all leasing activity in 2019 went to technology, advertising, media and information services tenants, according to Colliers.

The 2.8 million-square-foot Spiral is now 54 percent pre-leased. Anchor tenant Pfizer has leased 800,000 square feet at the building for its global headquarters, and AllianceBernstein has committed to 189,000 square feet at the property. [WSJ] — Kevin Sun

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