HNTB Corporation has leased three full floors, totaling more than 78,000 s/f, at the Empire State Building, announced landlord Empire State Realty Trust, Inc.
The engineering, architecture and planning firm recently named one of the 10 Most Innovative Companies for 2015 by Fast Company, will be relocating its New York office from 5 Penn Plaza, taking occupancy of floors 56-58 in the fourth quarter of this year.
“We have terrific momentum in leasing at the Empire State Building, and while HNTB’s lease reduces our current inventory to two full floors, we will be delivering to the market two full floors in 2015,” said Thomas P. Durels, Executive Vice President, and Director of Leasing and Operations for ESRT.
“The terrific response to our unique urban campus’s new amenities and improving neighborhood is the fruit of our team’s hard work, and we look forward to more leasing.”
Founded in 1914, HNTB Corporation has more than 60 offices across the United States and a continuous presence in New York City since 1922.
“We selected the Empire State Building as our new home for a number of reasons, including that its enduring and powerful presence reflects the nature of HNTB’s commitment to New York City,” said Mike Sweeney, PE, HNTB’s New York City metro district leader and senior vice president.
“HNTB has had a continuous presence in Manhattan since 1922, when it opened an office on Liberty Street in the heart of the financial district. In 2022, we’ll have the opportunity to celebrate a century of service of shaping transportation infrastructure in the region from this very special location.”
According to Sweeney, among the other reasons behind this move are HNTB’s ongoing commitment to the New York community, plans to add new employees in the firm’s New York City office location, which will now be possible with the expanded space, and support from New York state.
“We have substantially grown the team based at our current location to approximately 200 people as of today, and as a result of the relocation into the Empire State Building we will add as many as 120 additional professional positions in New York City over the next few years,” Sweeney said. “HNTB’s team of multidisciplinary infrastructure experts is committed to meeting the needs of our transportation network today, and into the future.”
HNTB’s new office space will encompass more than 78,000 square feet on the 56th, 57th and 58th floors of the Empire State Building, an increase of 67 percent from the 47,000 square feet occupied at the firm’s current 5 Penn Plaza location. “Once we move in, we’ll look out our windows with pride as we survey the cityscape of bridges, roads, tunnels, airports and rails that our firm has touched in ways large and small,” he said.
“The New York City office is the largest among the more than 60 HNTB offices throughout the country, and continues to experience tremendous success and growth,” said Steve McElligott, PE, HNTB’s Northeast Division president. “The New York City area and the entire northeastern United States are home to some of the most innovative and exciting transportation infrastructure programs in the nation. HNTB is proud of its relationships with many of the region’s transportation agencies and the significant role we are playing together enhancing mobility in this region.”
Landlord representation in the lease negotiations was provided by Fred C. Posniak of ESRT, along with William Cohen, Jonathan Tootell and Shanae Ursini of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. Sven Sykes, Tyler Owens and Mark Friedman of Colliers International represented HNTB. David Bleckner of Bleckner P.C. served as the landlord’s attorney.
