UNICEF lists 70K sf FiDi office condo

UPDATED Feb. 9, 11:00 a.m.

A major aid organization isn’t doing any favors for believers of the Manhattan office market.

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund USA listed its three-story office condo in the Financial District for sale, Crain’s reported. The 70,000-square-foot space is part of 125 Maiden Lane.

UNICEF USA purchased the space in 2007 for $29.9 million from the Empire State Development Corporation. At the time, the organization was looking to expand, moving from a 55,000-square-foot space. Sixteen years later, it is looking to downsize.

The organization told the outlet it doesn’t have the same need for a permanent large space after adopting a hybrid work policy during the pandemic. 

CBRE’s Daniel Kaplan and Justin Arzi are marketing the condo, which doesn’t have a specific asking price. The condo can be sold in totality or purchased by individual floor. Agents at CBRE are also helping UNICEF USA in its hunt for a new space.

Companies of all shapes and sizes have been reducing their office footprints in Manhattan as a lack of full-time occupancy has dragged on for three years. Meta and KPMG are among the companies reducing their office space in the borough by a large volume, the latter planning a 40 percent cutdown as it consolidates at 2 Manhattan West.

Office occupancy is slowly recovering across the country, hitting a benchmark of 50 percent benchmark in late January. New York City’s office attendance rose to almost 60 percent on a Tuesday tracked by Kastle Systems, but fell to 26.5 percent on Friday). Along with uneven attendance is uncertainty over if occupancy has peaked and if not, how much higher it could possibly trend.

Coming off a brutal fourth quarter, office leasing showed some momentum last month, according to Colliers. Nevertheless, the availability rate stubbornly remained at 17 percent after 150,000 square feet were added to the subleasing market.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect UNICEF USA was listing its office condo, not the global organization known as “UNICEF.”

— Holden Walter-Warner