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LORD ABBETT TAKES 178,000 SQ. FT. AT ICONIC GOLDMAN SACHS TOWER
Investment manager Lord Abbett & Co. is relocating its headquarters
in Jersey City after leasing nearly 180,000 square feet at a well-known office building.
The deal, which was cited by multiple market reports, will bring the firm to 30 Hudson St. at the 40-story property commonly known as the Goldman Sachs tower.
The company will leave its home
of more than two decades at 90 Hudson St., about two blocks to the north, where it has been based since moving from Midtown Manhattan.
Representatives from Lord Abbett did not return requests
for comment. The size of its existing space at 90 Hudson was not immediately clear, although the company took three floors for nearly 150,000 square feet at the time of its initial lease there.
Newmark, whose brokers are listed as the leasing team for 30 Hudson, declined to comment on the 178,107-square-foot transaction.
Real estate services firms including JLL, CBRE and Colliers cited the deal in their first-quarter market reports, identifying it as New Jersey’s largest office lease of 2022 to date. It was among several new commitments that contributed to a notable uptick in leasing, especially along the Hudson waterfront, with Collectors Holdings Inc. also taking 130,000 square feet in Jersey City during Q1.
“Nearly 4.2 million (square feet) of tenant requirements were navigating the state’s office
skyline. In 2020, Merck & Co. spinoff Organon & Co. committed to 110,000 square feet at the property, while insurance giant AIG later took a reported 230,000 square feet.
Goldman, which opened the 42-story tower in 2004 as part of a high-profile move into Jersey City, has been marketing several floors for sublease in recent years after trimming its footprint. The leasing team listed on the building’s website includes Newmark’s Hope Brodsky, Harrison Russell, Hal Stein and Neil J. Goldmacher.
“As we come out of the global pandemic, New Jersey’s office market has improved by leaps
and bounds,” said Robert Norton,
a CBRE first vice president.
“From robust leasing to the
removal of sublease availabilities from the overall supply, and the redevelopment or conversion of antiquated office buildings, the market is well poised to continue to recover over the next few quarters.”
A separate report by Newmark highlighted the uptick along the Hudson waterfront office, noting that Q1 was the submarket’s strongest quarter in more than
three years. Aside from Collectors Holdings’ lease at Harborside 3, Jersey City also benefited from transactions by creative studio MALKA and BlueVine, a financial technology company, which subleased a combined 35,000 square feet at 30 Montgomery St.
The activity and a slowdown in new availabilities fueled 248,780 square feet in positive net absorption, or overall gains in occupied space, Newmark found, in a submarket that has stumbled in recent years despite its prized location. The gains also stood out in an overall office market that saw incremental growth but was otherwise muted in Q1.
“Tenant leasing activity in the northern
New Jersey
office market
was steady throughout the first quarter
of 2022,”
The Goldman Sachs tower at 30 Hudson St. in Jersey City
the market report. He noted that availability showed little change, remaining at 26.3 percent for the past nine months, as asking rents remained stable with a 1 percent increase over the past year, to $30.15 per square foot, while landlords continued to expand concession packages.
“On March 7, New Jersey’s public health emergency was officially lifted, which is expected to coincide with a gradual return to the office,” Hyde added. “(However), many employers will retain adopted remote and hybrid work strategies, delaying a full recovery.”
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market in early 2022, compared to less than 3.9 million (square feet) at year-end 2021,” Stephen Jenco, JLL’s director of New Jersey office
research, wrote in the firm’s market report. “Furthermore, heightened focus on employee wellness will lead to increased demand for office space located in newly constructed or renovated buildings.”
The Lord Abbett deal is also
the latest in several high-profile commitments at the roughly 1.5 million-square-foot Goldman Sachs tower, a fixture in the Jersey City
Colin Hyde,
Newmark’s
research
manager in the region, wrote in
Colin Hyde