Business Insider Inks 88 KSF Lease in Lower Manhattan

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Business Insider has signed a 10-year lease for 88,000 square feet at 1 Liberty Plaza, a 2.3 million-square-foot Class A office building, owned by Brookfield Property Partners.

Bill Peters, JLL’s managing director

The company will occupy the entire eighth and ninth floors. JLL secured the space for the business news website company, after it contemplated several addresses in the area. Business Insider is moving from 150 Fifth Ave.

“The main appeals of the building for Business Insider were the location, the economics and the ability to accommodate the use of the space as a newsroom with a high density,” Bill Peters, JLL’s managing director, told Commercial Property Executive. “The Financial District offered the right kind of economics for a quality Class A building.”

Neighborhood’s Appeal

Originally known as the U.S. Steel Building, the 54-story office building is located at 165 Broadway. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP and built in 1973. The property offers direct access to the new Fulton Street Transit Center and the World Trade Center Path Station.

According to Peters, Lower Manhattan is flourishing, thanks to a wide variety of exciting shopping, dining and entertainment options and offers convenient access to mass transportation.

“Many of Business Insider’s employees are from Brooklyn so the building’s proximity to mass transportation worked well from that perspective,” Peters said. “The firm also appreciated the neighborhood, given that many of its neighbors share commonalities with the business news website.”

The building owner was represented by David Falk, Newmark Knight Frank’s president of the New York tri-state region, and Peter Shimkin, executive vice president. In addition to Peters, Business Insider was represented by Derek Trulson, JLL’s vice chairman, Michael Shenot, managing director; Josh Stuart, vice president; and Christian Allen, associate.