Trending

Columbia Property Trust comes for Bustle over back rent

Publisher allegedly owes millions at 315 Park Avenue South

Columbia Property Trust Wants Bustle Digital Group’s Back Rent
Bustle Digital Group's Bryan Goldberg and Columbia Property Trust's Adam Frazier with 315 Park Avenue South (LinkedIn, Columbia Property Trust, Google Maps, Getty)

Key Points

AI Generated.
This summary is reviewed by TRD Staff.
  • Columbia Property Trust is suing Bustle Digital Group for $2.7 million in alleged missed rent payments, late fees and expenses.
  • Bustle leased 34,000 square feet at 315 Park Avenue South in Midtown South since 2016, but allegedly stopped paying rent in October 2023.
  • Columbia gave Bustle a deadline to make up the payments, but Bustle responded by saying it planned to surrender the space.

Bustle needs to hustle if it wants to resolve its legal issues with Columbia Property Trust.

The owner of 315 Park Avenue South is suing Bryan Goldberg’s Bustle Digital Group over alleged missed rent payments, Crain’s reported. The publisher’s portfolio includes its eponymous Bustle brand, Nylon, Fatherly and W.

Columbia alleges BDG stopped making rent payments for its two floors at the Midtown South office building in October 2023. The publisher was occupying 34,000 square feet, which it began leasing in 2016 for about $3.1 million per year.

When Columbia set a deadline for the end of 2023 for BDG to make up the payments, the company allegedly responded by saying it was planning to surrender its space. Columbia replied that an abandonment would constitute default and still put BDG on the hook for missed rent payments.

BDG left anyway, according to the lawsuit, without making up the $2.3 million rent deficit the company accumulated. The bill adds up to $2.7 million, according to Columbia, when factoring in late fees and expenses.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Columbia declined to comment on the lawsuit, while BDG did not return a request for comment from Crain’s. The property in the dispute is still listed on BDG’s website as its contact address and it’s unclear where BDG is based today.

Columbia purchased 315 Park Avenue South in 2015 for $350 million. The property is 90 percent occupied with rents ranging from $72 to $88 per square foot, according to CoStar. Office tenants include PitchBook and artificial intelligence company Harvey.

Last year, the PIMCO-owned landlord scored an extension on a $1.7 billion CMBS loan that pushed the maturity date to July 2025 with a six-month extension option on the table. Seven office buildings, including 315 Park Avenue South, collateralize the debt.

Holden Walter-Warner

Read more

PIMCO’s Columbia Property Trusts Modifies $1.7B Loan After Default
Commercial
National
After pandemic’s biggest office default, Columbia Property Trust scores lifeline
Commercial
New York
Bustle's parent company takes another floor in Midtown South
SL Green Wins $13.5M Back Rent from Rosie O’Grady’s
Commercial
New York
SL Green wins $13.5M back rent from Rosie O’Grady’s
Recommended For You