Tishman Speyer Lands HQ Lease in SoHo

Tishman Speyer has signed Graphite as a tenant at 148 Lafayette St. in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. Starting in January, the AI code review platform will occupy 24,829 square feet across the building’s entire sixth and seventh floors. Newmark negotiated on behalf of the tenant, while the owner had in-house representation.

Graphite’s headquarters relocation from 434 Broadway, where it occupies 7,000 square feet, is only one of several corporate office moves announced this month in Manhattan. One of the larger deals involved investment and insurance firm Starr, which signed a 275,000-square-foot lease at BXP’s 343 Madison Ave.

A LEED-certified SoHo property

Tishman Speyer purchased 148 Lafayette St. in June 2025 from EPIC, for $105.5 million or $726.35 per square foot, according to Yardi Matrix information. The transaction marked the firm’s first investment in New York City since 2019 and its first in the U.S. since 2021. The deal also topped the list of major office building sales in New York City in June 2025.

Originally completed in 1913 and most recently renovated in 2017, the 145,246-square-foot building features floorplates measuring 12,315 square feet across 12 stories. The ownership plans to further upgrade the mid-rise by renovating the lobby area and elevators. The LEED Gold-certified property has two outdoor terraces and 8,156 square feet of retail space—which houses boxing gym Five Points Academy and clothing store 260 Sample.

Graphite’s lease brought the building to full occupancy. Among others, the tenant roster includes WeWork, which operates a 24,630-square-foot coworking space there, and venture capital firm General Catalyst, which occupies 42,535 square feet, according to Yardi Matrix information.

Tishman Speyer Managing Director Samantha Augarten served as the ownership’s in-house representative, while Newmark Managing Director Jon Franzel and Associate Director Leo Kone worked on behalf of the tenant in the lease transaction.

Manhattan office market still tops the charts

Manhattan saw average office listing rates drop 0.7 percent year-over-year in November to $68.36 per square foot, according to a recent Yardi Matrix report. Regardless, the borough remained the most expensive office market in the U.S.

The only other market that came close to Manhattan’s figure was San Francisco, at $65.03 per square foot. The national average listing rate stood at $32.77 per square foot.

As for vacancy rates, Manhattan’s had no match in November, averaging 13.4 percent, down 310 basis points over the year. Though rates seemed to contract significantly throughout the entire country, none of the borough’s peer markets registered such low figures. Chicago (19.0 percent), the Bay Area (23.0 percent), Washington, D.C. (19.6 percent) and San Francisco (25.7 percent) had rates above the national 18.5 percent. Only Los Angeles (14.4 percent) and Boston (15.4 percent) got closer to Manhattan’s top-of-the-list figure.