A biotech company founded by former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy has inked a lease for the top two floors at Vornado’s Penn 1.
Roivant Sciences will take the 55,000-square-foot duplex penthouse at the Midtown tower, a source said. The firm will occupy the entire 54th and 55th floors, moving from Durst Organization’s 151 West 42nd Street.
The 15-year lease’s asking rent was $140 per square foot, according to a source familiar with the deal.
A Newmark team including Neil Goldmacher and Josh Friedman represented Roivant, while Vornado was represented in-house by a team including Josh Glick and Jared Silverman.
Ramaswamy founded Roivant in 2014 and stepped down last year from the company’s board to focus on his campaign. He dropped out of the race in January after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses.
The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lease.
Vornado, led by Steven Roth, poured $450 million into Penn 1, formerly known as 1 Pennsylvania Plaza, to improve the property’s 55 floors. Updates at the 2.5-million-square-foot complex included new plazas, a curtain wall, refreshed elevators and lobbies, LEED certification and other sustainability and carbon-cutting measures, as well 160,000 square feet of food and recreational amenities.
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A frenzy of leasing activity followed. Last July, financial services firm Canaccord Genuity Group signed a lease for 75,000 square feet, consolidating from two locations. Prior to that, Samsung signed a deal for 36,000 square feet for its North America ad sales group. The landlord announced last week that accounting firm Weaver and Tidwell had agreed to take 36,500 square feet at the Midtown tower.
Other notable tenants at Penn 1 include Dell, Empire Heath, Gusto, Hartford Insurance, Jacobs Engineering, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.