Biometric firm CLEAR grabs 120K sf at Vornado and Related’s 85 10th Ave

The company that maintains a ubiquitous presence at airport security points has been cleared for landing on the High Line.

Biometric screener CLEAR is leasing 120,000 square feet across two floors at Vornado Realty Trust and Related Companies’ 85 Tenth Avenue, according to the Commercial Observer. The company will relocate from Blackstone’s Park Avenue Tower at 65 East 55th Street in October 2022. TRD contributor Lois Weiss first broke the news on Twitter.

During its 15-year lease, CLEAR will pay $12.2 million annually for its first five years, $13.2 million for the next five years and $14.3 million for the final five years, according to an SEC filing. The lease includes 16 months of free rent, in addition to a monthly rent abatement of more than $83,000 through 2027 to cover an earlier lease signed by CLEAR at 650 Madison Avenue in 2016.

Under those terms, CLEAR’s rent will average out to just over $110 per square foot per year, excluding the monthly abatement.

Jared Horowitz and Jason Perla of Newmark represented CLEAR in the deal, according to the Observer. Edward Riguardi and Anthony Cugini handled the lease on behalf of Vornado.

The company, which completed an IPO in June, signed a 10-year lease for nearly 25,000 feet at 65 East 55th Street just three years ago. The move to 85 Tenth Avenue will dramatically increase its Manhattan office footprint.

Google, a tenant at the 11-story, 635,000-square-foot building since 2014, added 60,000 square feet to its existing 180,000-square-foot space there in 2017.

Tenants signed leases for 2.7 million square feet of office space in Manhattan in October, up 10.8 percent from the previous month and the highest amount since the pandemic began. The availability rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 17 percent.

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[CO] — Holden Walter-Warner