JPMorgan shed 2M sf in NYC last year

JPMorgan Chase is developing one of the most prominent office projects in Manhattan — and slashing space left and right as it prepares to consolidate there.

JPMorgan cut its New York City office footprint by 22 percent last year, Crain’s reported. Regulatory filings revealed the depth of the bank’s office shift, a continuing trend from previous years.

The bank shrank its space by nearly 2 million square feet, a staggering amount for one of the city’s largest commercial tenants. The reductions include the subletting of 700,000 square feet at 4 New York Plaza and the sale of the 350,000-square-foot 3 MetroTech Center in Brooklyn, which New York University picked up for $122 million.

The bank is down to 6.8 million square feet of New York City offices, only three years after it occupied 9 million.

JPMorgan is focused on centralizing its operations around one office, 270 Park Avenue. The 2.5 million-square-foot development is expected to be completed in 2025.

“We remain committed to New York City and are planning for the next 50 years with our new headquarters,” a bank spokesperson told Crain’s.

The 60-story, 1,388-foot-tall tower in Midtown East will be able to accommodate up to 14,000 employees, more than half of the bank’s total. It will have flexible floorplans, a nod to the remote and hybrid work patterns that have emerged since the pandemic scattered office workers to wind.

The tower project was paused last month by the Department of Buildings after a carpenter fell to his death at the site. The stop-work order was partially lifted to allow for safety-related measures to be enacted, but it’s not clear when work will fully resume.

JPMorgan has exhibited a pattern of cutting office space since the onset of the pandemic. In 2021, the bank slashed its footprint in the city by 400,000 square feet. The year before, it cut 300,000.

Other banks and financial institutions, such as Wells Fargo, are making similar moves in the city, though Bank of America’s footprint remained the same last year.

— Holden Walter-Warner