DailyPay Triples Financial District Footprint With 55 Water Street Lease

UPDATED Sept. 2, 2021, 10:00 a.m.: Fintech firm DailyPay inked a 137,000-square-foot sublease at 55 Water Street, tripling its office space in the Financial District.

The payroll services startup will take up two of three floors listed for sublease by S&P Global on a 12-year term at the 53-story Financial District tower. DailyPay’s existing headquarters are just a few blocks away at Rudin Management’s 55 Broad Street, where it occupies about 42,500 square feet. The firm plans to move its headquarters by a few blocks to 55 Water Street, owned by the Retirement System of Alabama, in early 2022.

The major sublease deal is a positive signal for Manhattan’s office market, which has been struggling through a pandemic-driven downturn. Net sublet availability fell by 670,000 square feet in August, according to Colliers International, the largest monthly decrease in six years. The borough’s office vacancy rate has been at or near record-highs for months, and average asking rent in August was at its lowest level since 2017, according to Colliers.

DailyPay, which employs more than 300 people in New York City, has been allowing its vaccinated employees to use its office at 55 Broad Street on a voluntary basis. The company will continue to evaluate its return-to-office plans, with an eye toward both safety and employee feedback, a company spokesperson said.

Lee said the new lease represents the firm’s commitment to Downtown Manhattan, “recognizing it as a great place to attract talent.”

Wharton Property Advisors CEO Ruth Colp-Haber represented DailyPay in the transaction.

Correction: A previous version of this story stated that DailyPay was taking up two-thirds of S&P Global’s total space at 55 Water Street. S&P leases over 1 million square feet in the building and listed only a portion of its space for sublease.