RXR Scores 430K SF Lease from Ropes & Gray

Ahead of the holiday season, RXR roped in one of the year’s largest office leases in Manhattan.

Ropes & Gray inked a 430,000-square-foot lease at Scott Rechler’s firm’s 1285 Sixth Avenue, Crain’s reported. It’s not a far move for the company, which will relocate from Ivanhoe Cambridge’s 1211 Sixth Avenue.

It is, however, a significant expansion in space, a hopeful moment for office landlords across the city. Ropes & Gray occupies 300,000 square feet at 1211 Sixth, so it’s tacking on more than 100,000 square feet in its move.

Ropes & Gray isn’t set to depart its current office until its lease expires in 2027. At that point, Ivanhoe Cambridge — which declined to comment — will have big shoes to fill, even after News Corp. signed a 20-year extension at the property for more than 1 million square feet at the start of the year.

The lease is a coup for RXR, which is believed to be locking in Ropes & Gray for the next 15 to 20 years. Asking rent for the deal wasn’t immediately available.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Mark Weiss and Newmark’s Moshe Sukenik represented the tenant in the lease. RXR was represented in-house by Bill Elder.

Ropes & Gray is only filling a portion of the 550,000 square feet left behind by Paul Weiss at RXR’s tower. That law firm recently set off on a move to Fisher Brothers’ 1345 Sixth Avenue, where it leased 765,000 square feet.

Other tenants at Rechler’s 1.6-million-square-foot property include UBS and Omnicon Group. The building is fully leased, according to CoStar, though that includes Paul Weiss’ current lease. Asking rents range from $72 to $87 per square foot.

A year ago, RXR negotiated a loan modification with Morgan Stanley and AIG, infusing $220 million of equity to provide for reserves and pay down a $980 million balance. The interest rate jumped, but the maturity date was extended five years.

— Holden Walter-Warner