[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/2022/03/25/b...expansion/amp/

Blackstone again weighing Manhattan HQ move, expansion





TRD STAFF
MAR 25, 2022

Blackstone is reportedly getting restless at its 345 Park Avenue office once again, eyeing options for an expansion or move.

The private equity firm is seeking 1.5 million square feet of office space, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The company is weighing options that include a move to another building in the city, or redeveloping a building to create the space.

Blackstone isn’t shutting the door on 345 Park. Bloomberg reported the firm may expand its presence at the Rudin Management building, where it has operated for more than three decades. The building is slightly bigger than 1.8 million square feet, so expanding Blackstone’s presence to fit its ambitions would be difficult with other tenants in place.

Last year, Blackstone signed a deal to expand at the office by 80,000 square feet, bringing its total at 345 Park to 720,000 square feet. The firm also extended its lease for an additional year, through 2028.

But Blackstone has threatened to move before. The firm was reported in 2020 to be considering options for a new headquarters as large as 1 million square feet. Blackstone reportedly asked a handful of landlords to submit proposals for potential headquarters in Midtown and the Far West Side.

Among the sites under consideration at the time was a supertall office tower on Park Avenue proposed by Rudin and Vornado Realty Trust. The developers floated the idea of developing separately owned properties into a 1,450-foot-tall, 1.68 million-square-foot tower at 350 Park Avenue.

Morgan Stanley’s recent move for Manhattan office space offers context for the size of Blackstone’s reported hunt. The investment bank recently agreed to one of the biggest leases of the pandemic, poised to move into Park Avenue Plaza next year. That lease encompassed roughly 400,000 square feet, barely a quarter of what Blackstone is reportedly looking for.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ttan-expansion

Blackstone Hunts for Office Space in Major Manhattan Expansion


ByNatalie Wong
March 24, 2022

The New York-based private equity firm is hunting for roughly 1.5 million square feet (140,000 square meters) of space as it considers relocating from its longtime headquarters on Park Avenue, according to people familiar with the matter.

As it explores its options, Blackstone is looking at sites across Manhattan and could opt to redevelop a building given how much space it needs. The firm may also end up expanding at 345 Park, one of the people said. The building, owned by Rudin Management Co., has housed the firm more than 30 years.

… a handful of major finance and tech firms have been seeking space in New York. Ken Griffin’s Citadel has been looking at additional offices in Manhattan to accommodate his firm’s growing roster of employees in the region, while Morgan Stanley signed one of the city’s largest leases since the pandemic started.

Blackstone is looking for a significant amount of space. One Vanderbilt, the new skyscraper across from Grand Central Terminal, spans 1.7 million square feet, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s headquarters building downtown is more than 2 million square feet.

Blackstone has roughly 1.1 million square feet of offices in Manhattan. The Real Deal reported in July 2020 that the company was looking for additional space. About a year ago, the firm signed a short-term lease extension to expand at 345 Park. The firm also has offices at 601 Lexington Ave.