Leasing the Sky
Tishman Speyer’s The Spiral is set to open mid-2022 and it’s over halfway leased
WRITTEN BY Emily Nonko
JANUARY 4, 2022
Almost a year ago, The Spiral topped out as a 1,031-foot-tall office tower promising to bring cutting-edge architecture, and heavy-hitting tenants, to the far west side of Manhattan. The building is located just north of Hudson Yards, across from Bella Abzug Park, encompassing the area from the park to 10th Avenue, and from West 34th to West 35th Street. The core and shell of the building are now complete, with interior work ongoing, and the project is slated to open in mid-2022.
“The Spiral represents the ideal collaborative workspace, now more important than ever, combining sustainable design with an elevated hospitality experience,” Rob Speyer, the President and CEO of developer Tishman Speyer, said at the topping-out event. He continued, “The continued rise of The Spiral is a testament to our vision and optimism for New York City’s future.”
What makes the building unique? Its location, for one, as the far west side of Manhattan has dramatically transformed into a destination for luxury retail, office space and housing.
Its design, by the accomplished Bjarke Ingels Group, features a cascading series of landscaped terraces and hanging gardens as a signature element. The terraces are designed to ascend, one per floor, in a spiraling motion to create a unique, continuous green pathway that wraps around the façade of the tower and supplies occupants with accessible outdoor space. It will be built to LEED Gold standard.
The interior design will include soaring ceiling heights, floor-to-ceiling windows and expansive views of Midtown, Central Park, the Financial District and the Hudson River. A six-story base includes a lobby with 28-foot ceiling heights and 25,000 square feet of retail. The idea is that visitors feel uplifted, inspired, and energized by the light, air and soaring green spaces, according to a rep for Tishman Speyer.
How is the Spiral doing compared to Midtown Manhattan? Well, there’s the tenants lining up to move in – Tishman Speyer already pre-leased 57 percent of The Spiral’s 2.8 million square feet of collaborative office space, designed to respond to the needs of a modern, creative workforce. Pfizer, the biopharmaceutical company that co-developed the first Covid-19 vaccine approved for use in the U.S., will move its global headquarters to 746,000 square feet across 14 floors of the 65-story tower.
“While there is still a lot of uncertainty in the office market, highly amenitized buildings that are strategically located, such as One Vanderbilt and the Speyer, are doing very well and have attracted major tenants lining up,” said Daniel Hilpert, managing director of real estate investment banking intermediary firm Equicap.
Other anchor tenants include the renowned law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, which is relocating its headquarter to 13 floors totaling 531,000 square feet, and AllianceBernstein, which committed to 166,000 square feet across three-and-a-half floors for its New York City offices. In late November, the tower’s builder – Turner Construction Company – signed a 13-year, 75,000-square-foot lease to move its worldwide headquarters here.
Turner CEO Peter Davoren said at the time that the building “will provide us with an environment that so well defines our vision and the future of the company.” Asking rents in the tower have been reported as ranging from $110 per square foot at the base up to $225-plus per square foot at the top.
