A financial services company is swapping one Midtown skyscraper for another.
Nearwater Capital, which works with private equity firms, hedge funds and big banks, has signed a 17,300-square-foot, seven-year lease at SL Green’s One Vanderbilt. The firm will occupy part of the 33rd floor of the 58-story office tower.
Deal terms were not disclosed, but asking rents at One Vanderbilt have ranged from $150 to north of $200 per square foot, according to the developer. JLL’s Alexander Chudnoff and Kip Orban brokered the deal for the tenant.
Nearwater Capital first leased around 4,000 square feet in Lever House at 390 Park Avenue in 2017, before moving to a 5,500-square-foot office at the Seagram Building at 375 Park Avenue in 2018. Last summer, the firm expanded within that building so its employees could return safely.
Now, it’s moving again as the firm grows, said James Peterson, the firm’s founder and managing partner.
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“We believe the most efficient way to work is in the office, working as a group,” Peterson said, noting that about 90 percent of his 20-plus employees have returned to the office since July. “We’re an intellectual capital firm. We collaborate. And the best way to collaborate is being in the same physical environment.”
Peterson’s sentiment isn’t shared by all office tenants; many are still reluctant to make long-term commitments given the pandemic. Manhattan’s office availability hit a record high of 16 percent in the first quarter, according to Colliers International.
And according to a recent survey by Savills involving about 120 tech firms, 47 percent said they would need less office space in the near future because some of their employees would work remotely.
SL Green, along with partners Hines and the National Pension Service of Korea, opened the 1.7 million-square-foot skyscraper in September. As of January, it was about 73 percent leased. The firms are getting ready to refinance the 58-story tower with a debt package of roughly $2.25 billion.