By:  Dean Weiner

It may seem that some neighborhoods in New York City are suffering as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. One area that is seeing a resurgence is Midtown-East, especially around Grand Central Station. Even with many people still working from home, as more and more people begin to return the workplace, businesses are looking for ways to make it attractive to current and potential employees. Brand new office space is an absolute perk and proximity to a major transportation hub is a definite bonus especially for all those who moved to the suburbs when everything shut down in 2020. Even if one is still working remotely or in a hybrid fashion, you want your commute and time spent in the office to be easy and pleasant.

“Deals are still being done in the Hudson Yards area, Times Square, Midtown South and at the World Trade Center, but brokers say the momentum has shifted to the East 40s and 50s, which not long ago seemed to have lost their luster”, writes Steve Cuozzo of The New York Post.

Companies looking for convenience, amenities, safety, and value are rushing to make deals to rent space before all the best properties get snapped up. “Companies with resources are drawn to the blocks around Grand Central Terminal,” one insider said. “They like the energy that came from One Vanderbilt and the recent East Midtown rezoning. They like that the LIRR will soon be coming into the terminal. And they like the reinvestment that’s making old towers new”, The New York Post reports.

Deals are being done faster than ever. Cuozzo writes, “A major lease is said to be in the works for Macquarie Group at Brookfield’s 660 Fifth Avenue, the redesigned tower stripped of its former 666 “satanic” address. Other deals are also poised to happen at the unrecognizably transformed tower”.

Sources informed The New York Post, “that Ken Griffin’s Citadel, which is on a Big Apple hiring spree, is in advanced talks with Olayan America’s 550 Madison Ave., the repositioned former Sony tower where Chubb Group recently signed on as anchor tenant.  Citadel is already the largest tenant at L&L Holding Co.’s nearby 425 Park Ave. Separately, an unidentified tenant is believed to be taking a high-floor space at SL Green’s One Vanderbilt for close to $300 per square foot.”

Also, it has been reported, “new leasing momentum at Mutual of America and Munich Re’s 320 Park Ave., which — like many other avenue towers — has undergone a major capital upgrade program. Coming out of the pandemic we’ll see even more activity in Midtown East,” one broker predicted, “as companies undeterred by ‘work from home’ will continue to seek the stability of what was always Manhattan’s No. 1 commercial heart – Grand Central.”, according to Cuozzo.