RillaVoice, an artificial intelligence-powered app that records and transcribes voice conversations to help train sales teams, has signed one of Brooklyn, New York’s largest office leases in the past year.
The deal is one of the latest examples of how AI firms are driving the tech office recovery in New York and beyond.
RillaVoice took a 57,350-square-foot, 10-year lease for the entire eighth-floor penthouse at 25 Kent Ave. in the Williamsburg neighborhood, Global Holdings said Thursday in a statement. Global Holdings, led by billionaire investor Eyal Ofer, assumed primary management of the property in April.
The lease is Williamsburg’s largest since early last year, Global Holdings said.
The asking rent was $76 per square foot with 25 Kent now 72% leased, a Global Holdings spokesperson told CoStar News, adding the tenant will relocate from Long Island City in Queens. RillaVoice’s website lists its current address at 28-07 Jackson Ave.
The average asking rent in the North Brooklyn market, where 25 Kent sits, is near a record high of about $44 per square foot, according to CoStar data.
25 Kent was developed by Rubenstein Partners and Heritage Equity Partners before Global Holdings in 2018 made a preferred equity investment of $100 million, according to The Real Deal, which earlier reported the lease. The 500,000-plus-square-foot property was completed in 2017, CoStar data shows.
“25 Kent delivers a workplace experience that truly resonated with our brand ethos,” Sebastian Jimenez, CEO and founder of RillaVoice, said in a statement. “There is a seamless connection to the cultural energy of waterfront Williamsburg that felt like home. Global Holdings’ investment in the building supports collaboration, culture, and productivity. As companies continue to rethink where and how they want to work, 25 Kent is setting the pace for what a modern creative and tech headquarters should be.”
25 Kent is Brooklyn’s first ground-up commercial development in more than 40 years, Global Holdings said. The property features close to 4,000 square feet of private outdoor space and amenities such as a 20-foot bouldering wall and a 12,000-square-foot rooftop terrace with sweeping views of Manhattan and the East River.
At the property, RillaVoice will join major tenants including Amazon Music, streetwear brand Kith and Altana AI, Global Holdings said. In the past year, the property signed Five Iron Golf, AI research lab Autonomous Technologies Group and tech startup Queen One.
For the record
RillaVoice was represented by Cooper Weisman and Ryan Gessin of Newmark. Global Holdings was represented by Craig Panzirer and Alex Radmin, along with Jordan Gosin, Will Grover and Drew Wiley of Newmark.