Latham & Watkins Expands at 1285 Sixth Avenue

For the second time in a matter of months, law firm Latham & Watkins is adding hundreds of thousands of square feet of space to its offices at an RXR property.

The company expanded at 1285 Sixth Avenue in Midtown by 131,000 square feet, the Commercial Observer reported. That brings its footprint at Scott Rechler’s property to 251,000 square feet, as it signed its initial 12-year, 120,000-square-foot lease over the summer.

The expansion was disclosed in a monthly Colliers office report. Other details of the expansion, including the length and the asking rent for the space, were not publicized.

The average asking rent in the neighborhood last month was $84.28 per square foot, according to the report. As of July, asking rents at the 1.8-million-square-foot building were typically ranging from the high $90s to mid-$100 per square foot.

When Latham & Watkins signed its initial lease in July, it was reported that the deal brought the building to 100 percent occupancy. It seems the firm was able to expand its footprint more by taking space from a tenant on an expiring lease.

RXR did not provide a comment to The Real Deal.

A year ago, Mizuho Financial Group — the parent company of Mizuho Americas — took 151,000 square feet at the Midtown Manhattan building on a sublease. And in late 2024, law firm Ropes & Gray signed a 430,000-square-foot lease at 1285 Sixth Avenue, one of the year’s biggest leases in Manhattan.

Other tenants include UBS and Omnicom Group. In 2023, RXR negotiated a loan modification with Morgan Stanley and AIG, contributing $220 million of equity to enhance reserves and pay down a $980 million balance. The interest rate on the debt rose, while the maturity date was pushed out by five years.

Latham & Watkins, meanwhile, has hung on to its 435,000 square feet a few blocks away at Rockefeller Group’s 1271 Sixth Avenue.

— Holden Walter-Warner