Microsoft moves into new NYC office space following $100M redevelopment
Microsoft has moved into its new offices at 122 Fifth Ave. — now that Bromley Companies has completed its $100 million redevelopment in the Flatiron District, near Union Square.
Microsoft’s East Coast AdTech Hub occupies 150,000 square feet on the top half of the building on floors 6 through 10. The company also has exclusive use of a portion of the new 13,200-square-foot rooftop terrace and the 5,500-square-foot Pavilion that’s encased in floor-to-ceiling wraparound glass.
Microsoft also has a private Fifth Avenue entrance, replete with flagpoles.
“122 Fifth Avenue has been a part of Bromley’s portfolio for nearly five decades and it’s incredible to see our vision for the reimagined space come to life,” said Nicholas Haines, CEO of Bromley Companies.
The 300,000-square-foot reinvented office and retail property is a T-shaped landmarked building that once counted Barnes & Noble and the Gap as tenants. It also has additional entrances on West 17th and 18th streets.
“The transformative restoration, renovation and expansion of 122 Fifth is reflective of a shared commitment to and care for the urban fabric of this neighborhood,” said David Burns, principal at STUDIOS Architecture.
The STUDIOS team handled the design and architecture, as well as the city’s extensive Landmarks Preservation Commission review process.
“It was essential, for both Bromley and STUDIOS, that we completed the block in a way that is simultaneously contemporary, contextually relevant and historically sensitive,” Burns added.
The building’s new main entrance is at the base of an architecturally integrated, 11-story addition created on a former parking lot on West 17th Street.
Moving the lobby and elevator bank into this new addition also freed up the valuable Fifth Avenue frontage for storefronts.
Retail tenants now include Allbirds, Pandora and Parachute Home. A Cushman & Wakefield team led by Alan Schmerzler is marketing the remaining retail space, which can be compiled to include the lower office floors as well as a lower level.
The below-grade area is so vast that Bromley is waiting to lease more of the retail and office space before adding any conference or auditorium facilities.
“We have space in the lower level we could do various types of things,” said David Falk of Newmark, who is heading the office leasing team. “It’s a blank slate and we could create a space for conferencing.”
Upstairs, the relocation of the elevators and bathrooms created more efficient and larger floorplates that now range from 27,000 to 33,000 square feet.
About 112,000 square feet remain to lease with floorplates of about 28,000 square feet, Falk said. The offices have an asking rent that is “slightly” over $100 per foot.
Prior to the renovations, Falk said he advised, “If you build out a great lobby and communal roof deck, you will have something special here,” because most buildings in the area have small floorplates.
The company listened. “They built a magnificent lobby and created a separate entrance on 17th Street, which could be used exclusively for another tenant,” Falk added.
The third entrance on West 18th Street leads into the new lobby, and will soon include a grab-and-go coffee shop.
New elevators have destination dispatch technology, while touchless access is integrated with mobile phones that can even create QR codes for guests. “Every building should be doing this,” Falk added.
There have been tenants touring and an upcoming broker party will soon show off the new lobby artwork, elevator cabs, available floors and roof terrace to the industry.
“Bigger relocations have been slower and the demand in Midtown South is mostly for floors of 10,000 to 15,000 square feet,” Falk said. “But ownership is patient.”
Union Square Partnership’s Executive Director Julie Stein, noted, “Union Square remains a bustling, authentic New York neighborhood where people want to be — to live, work, and shop — evidenced by exponential business growth resulting in tangible job opportunities from tech and education to food service, retail and more. We look forward to welcoming the workers of 122 Fifth Ave. into Union Square’s unique and accessible mix of office tenants, iconic shopping, global culinary offerings and world-class green space.”
