Spotify is starting the new year the same way it wrapped the old one: subleasing vast pockets of space at Silverstein Properties’ 4 World Trade Center.
Payroll management platform Rippling is the latest subletter, taking 69,000 square feet from Spotify at the Lower Manhattan tower, the Commercial Observer reported. Rippling will occupy the 59th and 60th floors of the building, after moving over from SJP Properties’ 470 Park Avenue South.
Colliers’ Sheena Gohil and Brian Given were among those representing Spotify in the sublease agreement, while JLL’s Kyle Riker and Justin Haber represented Rippling.
It’s unclear how much Rippling is paying for the sublease, but one doesn’t need to look far for a hint. Language learning company Duolingo subleased nearly 86,000 square feet from Spotify at 4 WTC at the end of last year. Duolingo is paying $62 per square foot, according to an SEC filing.
Between the two deals, Spotify is subleasing almost 155,000 square feet at 4 WTC, fulfilling a downsizing goal laid out in the spring. Spotify has been one of the tower’s largest tenants, occupying 564,000 square feet, but has been looking to cut down amid rounds of layoffs and a permanent work-from-home policy post-Covid.
Read more
Subleases remain an option for office tenants looking to reduce space without getting into a financial skirmish with their landlords. Last month, Verizon placed 143,000 square feet of raw space up for sublease at Essex Crossing, despite never occupying the space at 155 Delancey Street that it agreed to take back in 2021.
The availability rate in Manhattan remained at a record high at the end of the year, according to a report from Colliers. There’s 96.5 million square feet of office space available in the borough, despite leasing activity jumping 27 percent from the third quarter to the fourth.
— Holden Walter-Warner