Century-old NYC office building signs two deals to reverse trend toward newer towers

While some old buildings atrophy, others thrive. Two new deals totaling 104,000 square feet have brought George Comfort & Sons’ 960,000-square-foot 498 Seventh Ave. at 95% occupied.

Public technology firm PubMatic, Inc., signed a direct lease of 60,000 square feet. The company, which was a backer, will roughly double its space in the first quarter of 2025.

Meanwhile, engineering firm Hazen and Sawyer extended its lease on 44,000 sf through at least 2035.

George Comfort CEO Peter S. Duncan cited the property’s “light-filled workspaces, flexible floor tiles, convenient amenities and unrivaled central location to the city’s most important transit hubs” as critical to the success. her.

The 25-story tower opened in 1920 and was significantly modernized in 2021. The owners used design firm Gensler to revitalize the ground-floor lobby among other improvements.

Asking rents are in the $60s, according to market sources.

Other tenants at 498 Seventh Ave. include engineering firm Cosentini Associates, construction specialists Milrose Consultants, design firm Dattner Architects and construction firm The McKissack Group.

Matt Coudert and Andrew Conrad represented George Comfort Home in both transactions. Greg Taubin of Savills represented PubMatic. Curtis Dean of CD Commercial Real Estate Services called Hazen and Sawyer.

Dated features the saddle office building in Midtown

Working from home is blamed for almost everything wrong with the Manhattan commercial market. It was cited by developer David Sturner as a reason that “most buildings are no longer considered safe investments” in a New York Times story about the $8.5 million fire sale of 135 W. 50th St., which traded for 332 million dollars in ancient 2006.

But if 135 W. 50th St. it’s half the stench described by reporter Matthew Haag — with dated layouts, little light and very low ceilings, to say nothing of the burden of a ground rent — the $8.5 million price tag seems almost extravagant.

WFH can hardly explain the property’s 35% occupancy rate. Companies moved because the building is dead weight to the kind of owners once taken for granted in the days of low interest rates and corporate expansion.

And while WFH isn’t going away completely, it seems to be a slow trend.

According to the Real Estate Board of New York’s latest survey, based on Placer.ai location data, 350 Manhattan buildings recorded 77% of their pre-pandemic baseline level of physical occupancy compared to 2019.

It is the highest monthly level since REBNY began tracking it in February 2023.

As usual, Class A+ properties led the pack in building visits compared to 2019, recording 91% in June, up from 83% in June 2023.