Centric Brands downsizes at the Empire State Building

Centric Brands is downsizing at the Empire State Building.

The company, which previously occupied 300,000 square feet on three floors, signed a lease for 212,000 square feet, Commercial Observer reported. The company inked a 10-year lease directly with the Empire State Realty Trust, in lieu of its previous sublease agreement from Global Brands Group. The asking rent per square foot was in the low to mid $70s.

“As part of Centric Brands’ reorganization, they considered all their options for their offices,” Anthony Malkin, CEO of Empire State Realty Trust, said in a statement to the Commercial Observer. “It is gratifying that they chose to restack and make a long-term commitment to ESB.”

Centric Brands, the parent company of lifestyle brands Calvin Klein, Nautica and Tommy Hilfiger, emerged from bankruptcy last week with backing from Blackstone Group, with $700 million less debt.

The remaining 100,000 square feet of space is being marketed by JLL on behalf of GBG.

The Empire State Building has seen a precipitous loss in revenue thanks to Covid-mandated closures at its observation deck. It reported just $86,000 in revenue from the tourist destination last quarter, down from $32.9 million during the same time last year.

Manhattan office leasing has also dropped dramatically since Covid-19 emptied out many of the borough’s workplaces. In the third quarter, deals for just 4.81 million square feet of office space were inked, which is half of what was leased during the same time last year. If the current leasing pace continues, it would mean the lowest leasing volume this century, according to a Colliers report.

[CO] — Georgia Kromrei