Tech giant Yahoo! Inc. announced at a press conference Monday, May 20 that it is moving its New York headquarters to the former head-office of New York Times at 43rd Street, East of Eighth Avenue in Times Square, New York City.
Yahoo has signed a long-term lease to rent four floors (ninth to twelfth) in the 15-story building. The company has more than 500 employees working in the city. They are all currently housed in three different buildings at 1065 Avenue of the Americas (40th Street), 11 West 19th Street and 1540 Broadway (45th Street). With the purchase of the new office, all the 500 employees will shift to the office by the end of 2013, reports New York Times.
Yahoo is already in talks with the city officials to install a bright, illuminated logo of the company on the cupola of the building. The announcement of the office lease comes just a day after Yahoo agreed to take over the blogging website, Tumblr, for around $1.1 billion. Tumblr currently has around 175 employees working in New York at 35 East 21st Street. These employees will not be moved to the new office, reports Bloomberg.
About the office at 43rd Street, East of Eighth Avenue
The office at 43rd Street, East of Eighth Avenue, served as the headquarters of the New York Times until 2004, when Tishman Speyer, a major property firm, purchased the building from the publishing firm. The Times sold the building as it was moving to a new site on Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets. Almost three years later, Tishman Speyer sold the building to Africa Israel U.S.A for $525 million, who renovated the property to its current glory. However, during the property downturn, the owners went into a massive debt and decided to lease the building.
In 2011, Blackstone Group LP, a global real estate firm, purchased the top 11 floors of the building for $160 million. Yahoo is apparently leasing space from the group now.
Tech companies are flocking to central New York now. Yahoo will be sharing the building with two other tech firms, 10gen, a software producing firm and Citysearch, the local search engine of the city. A 32 floor data center recently came up at the foot of Brooklyn Bridge in Lower Manhattan, which houses tenants like New York Genome Center.
"With its mix of financial, tech, media and retail companies, Lower Manhattan is emerging as "a multifaceted 21st century business district," Nicole LaRusso, senior Vice President of planning and economic development for the Alliance for Downtown New York, said in a statement.
