Brookfield Extends Manhattan Lease in $1.5B Deal

September 25, 2025

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The agreement will support affordable housing development across New York City’s five boroughs.

Brookfield Properties and Battery Park City Authority have agreed to extend the ground lease for Brookfield Place, a 14-acre, 9.4 million-square-foot office and retail complex in Lower Manhattan, for an additional 50 years in a deal valued at $1.5 billion.

250 Vesey St., one of the five office towers at Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan. The building’s main office tenant is quantitative trading firm Jane Street Capital. *Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix*

In addition to extending the lease term from 2069 to 2119, the agreement is expected to generate an estimated $1.5 billion through higher ground rent payments for the city of New York and the Joint Purpose Fund. The fund supports affordable housing development across the city’s five boroughs.

The deal also calls for Brookfield to commit to reducing emissions and contributing up to $2.5 million for improvements to West Street, according to Crain’s New York Business, which was the first to report on the agreement. Brookfield will also provide 10,000 square feet of office space for community organizations and nonprofits, Crain’s wrote.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who signed off on the agreement along with Mayor Eric Adams, City Comptroller Brad Lander and the BPCA, said in prepared remarks the agreement ensures the stability of Battery Park City while building and providing more affordable housing through New York City. She added it also uplifts the city’s economy by securing Brookfield Place for years to come.

Calling it a win for the city, state and private partners, Adams said in the prepared statement the agreement to extend the ground lease through 2119 bolsters Lower Manhattan’s role as a job creator while investing billions of dollars in housing for New Yorkers. It builds on the announcement last year that the state and city were investing $500 million in the Joint Purpose Fund to build and preserve affordable housing. Crain’s noted the fund has already created or preserved more than 10,000 affordable housing units since 2010.

A large team of commercial real estate and legal advisors helped the parties reach the agreement. The BPCA was advised by Stacom CRE’s Darcy Stacom; CBRE’s Eric Negrin, HR&A Advisors’ Carl Weisbrod, Bret Collazzi and Nicholas Hughes along with Skadden’s Neil Rock and Vered Rabia, according to Crain’s. Savills’ David Heller and Mark Todrys as well as Fried Frank’s Laurinda Martins and Simon Elkharrat advised Brookfield.

Massive mixed-use campus

The state and city officials also noted the agreement underscores the continued strength of Lower Manhattan’s office market, of which Brookfield Place comprises approximately 10 percent of inventory.

Brookfield Place comprises five towers with Class A office and retail tenants—200 Liberty St., 200 Vesey St., 250 Vesey St., 300 Vesey St. and 225 Liberty St. The four original towers were developed by Olympia & York as the World Financial Center between 1983 and 1988. Brookfield acquired the majority interest in the four towers in 1992. In 2013, Brookfield acquired 300 Vesey St, a 16-story, 555,851-square-foot building that is home to the Mercantile Exchange, from CME Group for $200 million, according to Yardi Research Data. The building also has 11,000 square feet of retail space.

250 Vesey St. is a 34-story, 1.8 million-square-foot office tower with 44,000 square feet of retail space. The building’s main office tenant is quantitative trading firm Jane Street Capital, which renewed and expanded its lease to nearly 1 million square feet earlier this year. Jane Street had been at the tower since 2014. The College Board is also an office tenant. Retail tenants include Del Frisco’s Grille restaurant, Starbucks, J. Crew, Theory, UNTUCKit, Suit Supply, Drybar and Lululemon.

200 Vesey St. is a 51-story building with 2.5 million square feet, including 6,000 square feet of retail space. A major tenant is RBC Capital Markets with 402,807 square feet of space, according to Yardi Research Data. Flexible office space provider Regus is also a tenant, leasing nearly 55,000 square feet of space.

225 Liberty St. is a 44-story, 2.4 million-square-foot tower with 35,000 square feet of retail space. Major office tenants include J. Crew, which leases 324,658 square feet; OFI Global Asset Management, which leases 291,129 square feet; BNY, which leases 324,658 square feet; Invesco, which leases 204,424 square feet, and Commerzbank with 129,363 square feet.

Convene, a flexible office and meeting space provider, leases nearly 75,000 square feet and can host up to 1,000 people for events including conferences, trade shows, summits, exhibits and galas.

200 Liberty St. is a 40-story, 1.7 million-square foot building with about 52,000 square feet of retail including Starbucks and Devon & Blakely, an eatery. One of the major office tenants is the Associated Press, which leases 172,000 square feet. Other office tenants include Brookfield Renewable, FINRA, Raymond James and Winter Park Wealth Group.

Brookfield’s investments in Brookfield Place

Over the last decade, Brookfield has invested about $900 million in Brookfield Place and expects to spend more than $100 million over the next several years on additional capital improvements to help attract and retain top-tier tenants and ensure it remains a Class A office and retail asset.

Upgrades included renovating the Winter Garden atrium, which is home to luxury retail brands and a food hall and includes a waterfront plaza along the Hudson River. The improvements included constructing the east-west passageway linking Brookfield Place with the World Trade Center and repositioning the retail to add offerings. Brookfield has also invested $220 million to modernize and enhance office lobbies, mechanical systems and elevators and another $40 million to update sustainability features. All the buildings are LEED Gold certified.