Vice Media Could Take Huge Chunk Of Rudin, Boston Properties' Dock 72

Vice Media is reportedly set to ink a big lease at Rudin and Boston Properties' Dock 72 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for a headquarters location, consolidating other offices in the borough at the building.

The company will take space across four or five floors at the sail-shaped building, The Real Deal reports, citing sources. Vice, which laid off writers and announced a new strategy to produce fewer text articles on Thursday, has multiple offices across Brooklyn, including 80K SF at 49 South Second St. and 289 Kent Ave., along with space at 99 North 10th St. and at 55 Washington St. It plans to vacate at least some of these offices, TRD reports.

The 670K SF Dock 72, which Rudin and Boston Properties developed in a 50-50 partnership, so far has only had WeWork, originally named as a co-developer, as the sole tenant. The property opened in October 2019, with WeWork leasing 222K SF. At the time, WeWork’s much-hyped initial public offering was going downhill and was ultimately canned.

Toward the end of last year, Boston Properties said it was writing down a $60.5M impairment charge after lowering the fair-market value of Dock 72 as a result of the protracted lease-up and extra costs. Boston Properties said the slower-than-expected leasing was due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, Rudin has remained optimistic about the future of the property, even amid stagnant leasing.

“We have been starting to see some activity with prospective tenants in the market. It's a little slower than in Manhattan, but [Dock 72] is one of the greatest products that we've ever created — if you ask our partner, the CEO of Boston Properties, Owen Thomas, he thinks this is one of the Boston Properties' best buildings that they've ever built," Rudin’s Bill Rudin told Bisnow in January. "We're confident that this building will attract some tenants.”