UPDATED, Nov. 17,11:55 a.m.: WeWork is close to signing a 122,000-square-foot lease at Sitt Asset Management’s 2 Herald Square.CBRE’s Derrick Ades and Barry Finkelman are representing WeWork, according to a source. The company currently has 32 co-working locations in New York City, according to its website. Two weeks ago, it signed a lease to take 64,000 square feet at Billy Macklowe’s 311 West 43rd Street.
CBRE and WeWork declined to comment. Ralph Sitt did not respond to a request seeking comment.
Sitt Asset Management’s Ralph and David Sitt have been in a protracted legal fight with their brothers Eddie and Jack Sitt, who claim they were squeezed out of the family business. 2 Herald Square, the firm’s most valuable property, is at the center of the dispute. Jack Sitt claimed that Ralph forged documents to make himself the sole managing member of the 365,000-square-foot office building, which Ralph disputes.
In another suit, Jack Sitt won a status quo order preventing Ralph from making major managerial decisions (like the WeWork lease) on his own without court approval. Ralph and David’s attorney, Stephen Meister, told TRD in a statement that he was “heartened that Justice Bransten approved the WeWork lease.”
WeWork, a co-working company recently valued at $16.9 billion, leases office space and sublets it by room or desk to so-called members on a short-term basis. Last month, The Real Deal reported that the firm is preparing an investment fund to buy properties.