Farley Building Penn District Manhattan NYC

Facebook Leases 730,000 SF of Office Space at Vornado’s Farley Building in Manhattan

by John Nelson

NEW YORK CITY — Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) has signed a lease to fully occupy the office portion of The Farley Building, a mixed-use project under construction in Manhattan. The landlord, Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO), is redeveloping the historic property, which was formerly the James A. Farley Post Office Building.

The social media giant will occupy 730,000 square feet in the building. A timeline for the move-in and the number of employees moving into Farley was not disclosed.

“The Farley Building will further anchor our New York footprint and create a dedicated hub for our tech and engineering teams,” says Robert Cookson, Facebook’s vice president of real estate and facilities.

The Farley Building spans a double-wide city block between 31st and 33rd streets and 8th and 9th avenues. The property is part of Vornado’s Penn District development. Vornado owns more than 10 million square feet in Penn District, which is undergoing a $2 billion redevelopment, not including infrastructure and transit improvements by City of New York totaling $3 billion.

Penn District includes the Farley Building, Penn 1 and Penn 2, all of which are under construction. Penn 1 and 2 are redevelopments of One Penn Plaza and Two Penn Plaza, two connected office towers that sit directly atop Penn Station and Madison Square Garden.

In addition to Facebook’s new offices, the Farley Building will feature the Moynihan Train Hall and 120,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Vornado expects Moynihan to be the busiest transportation hub in Manhattan as it will be the New York City home of Amtrak and will also serve the Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit and several subway lines.

McKim, Mead & White designed Farley Building, which Vornado expects to complete in phases beginning by the end of the year. The Related Cos. has a 5 percent ownership stake in the building.

New York City-based Vornado’s stock price closed Monday, Aug. 3 at $35 per share, down 42 percent from $61.04 a year ago.

Facebook first made entry into New York City’s office sector in 2007. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company also occupies office space in nearby Hudson Yards and 770 Broadway, which is owned by Vornado.

Facebook’s stock price closed at $251.58 per share, up from $181.73 a year ago.

— John Nelson

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