Law firm leases 71K sf at Brookfield’s Two Manhattan West

Crowell & Moring moving from IBM building at 590 Madison Ave

Brookfield Properties’ Brian Kingston and Two Manhattan West (Brookfield Properties, Manhattan West, Getty)
Brookfield Properties’ Brian Kingston and Two Manhattan West (Brookfield Properties, Manhattan West, Getty)

A law firm is headed for Brookfield Properties’ Two Manhattan West.

Crowell & Moring leased 71,000 square feet at the Hudson Yards development, the New York Post reported. The firm is moving to the still-unopened property from 590 Madison Avenue, also known as the IBM Building.

While IBM is the largest tenant at its eponymous building, the departing law firm accounted for the largest share of total base rent at the property, as of a March 2020 rent roll showing it paid $135 per square foot for its 100,000 square feet. The lease is scheduled to expire in 2024.

Crowell & Moring in 2017 subleased 25,000 square feet at the IBM Building to another law firm, Greenspoon Marder.

Terms of Crowell & Morning’s lease with Brookfield on the Far West Side weren’t disclosed, but the law firm is expected to make its move next year. The tower is expected to open in the spring.

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The deals at Two Manhattan West are emblematic of tenants’ desire to move to newer buildings. When hedge fund D.E. Shaw agreed to take 283,000 square feet in September, the tower reached past a 75 percent leasing threshold — the latest lease brings the property to about 80 percent leased.

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Brookfield this year also landed audit and consulting firm KPMG for the building. The firm leased 450,000 square feet, the year’s largest deal in Manhattan. International law firm Clifford Chance took 144,000 square feet in June. Cravath Swaine & Moore, another law firm, leased 481,000 square feet at the building prior to this year.

Amenities at the 58-story, 1.9 million-square-foot property include a 3,200-square-foot landscaped terrace, bike storage, conference centers and a fitness and wellness center. The property is the last piece of Brookfield’s eight-acre complex on the Far West Side.

— Holden Walter-Warner