JPMorgan Chase's demand for office space isn't slowing as the finance company expands its already-vast real estate presence in New York City and elsewhere across the United States.
The banking giant has barely cut the ribbon on its freshly completed 2.5‑million‑square‑foot global headquarters in Manhattan, but that hasn't kept it from signing on for more space in the area. It finalized a sublease deal at the 5 Manhattan West building that will add another roughly 139,330 square feet to its area footprint.
The deal extends a national leasing blitz it kicked off early last year alongside the implementation of one of corporate America's strictest in-person attendance policies.
The latest expansion at 450 West 33rd St. — about two miles west of its recently completed headquarters tower at 270 Park Ave. — is one of the largest office leases signed for the Manhattan office market so far this year.
It serves as a preliminary indicator of the rising demand JPMorgan and other tenants throughout the city are fueling as the pool of available office space — particularly at premium properties stocked with desirable amenities — continues to shrink.
JPMorgan backfills space S&P Global dumped on the sublease market several years ago. The agreement accounts for the entire fifth floor of the property and extends through 2032.
With the expansion, the bank now occupies about 565,000 square feet in the 16-story, 1.7-million-square-foot office building, a Brookfield spokesperson told CoStar News. It initially moved into the building more than a decade ago and has subsequently grown its footprint in the years since.
Bigger Big Apple bite
The expansion is the latest in a string of investments JPMorgan has made, many of which have been concentrated around the new 60-story, 2.5 million-square-foot supertall that now serves as its global headquarters and can potentially accommodate upward of 10,000 of its New York area employees.
Yet despite its size and nearly $4 billion price tag, it hasn't been enough to house all of its employees, who now need to report to an office for a complete five-day workweek. To ensure it has enough space, the bank has quickly expanded its physical presence in the region, bulking up its Manhattan portfolio to encompass more than 6 million square feet, making the firm one of the largest office tenants in the area.
The 5 Manhattan West sublease lands within weeks of JPMorgan signing a separate sublet arrangement for an additional 60,000 square feet at 390 Madison Ave., an outpost located across the street from its Park Avenue skyscraper. The deal expanded the financial institution's presence in the building to just shy of 497,000 square feet.
It has also kicked off an extensive renovation plan for its former headquarters at 383 Madison, a project set to anchor the bank's nationwide push to upgrade its real estate portfolio.
“With more than 17,500 employees working in Manhattan across a number of corporate office locations, we are always reviewing our long-term real estate options in Manhattan," a JPMorgan spokesperson told CoStar News. “We continue to maintain significant space at our locations across Midtown as we fully renovate 383 Madison over the next several years."
JPMorgan, the largest bank in the U.S., also leases or owns office space across the Manhattan area at 237 Park Ave., 277 Park Ave., 410 Madison Ave., Rockefeller Center and Hudson Yards, the spokesperson said.
Namesake appeal
That commitment to physical office space has rippled across the country as JPMorgan has signed several large renewal deals, expanded regional offices and spent heavily to acquire more property.
That ongoing investment has so far resulted in new and renewal agreements in San Francisco, Dallas, New Jersey and Southern California, according to CoStar data.
The bank late last year finalized a deal to add another 40,000 square feet at what will soon be the former Russell Investment Center tower in downtown Seattle. The expansion, which includes naming rights for the 1301 Second Ave. building, will beef up JPMorgan's downtown presence to about 128,000 square feet and will result in a new JPMorgan Chase Center tower lit up along the city's skyline.
Along with the latest Seattle expansion, JPMorgan is also positioning itself to become the anchor tenant for the newest addition to Boston's skyline. The firm is in the final stages of negotiating with developer Hines to fill about 250,000 square feet at the recently completed South Station development.
While that deal has not yet been finalized, JPMorgan filed an application with the city last month to emblazon its name atop the 51-story skyscraper. The deal, once realized, would mark one of the largest new office deals for the Boston market since the pandemic's outbreak more than five years ago.