The Biggest Knotel Ever Is Opening In The Former New York Times Building

Flexible office space provider Knotel is taking a full floor at the former New York Times building on 43rd Street, its biggest single space yet.

Knotel is subleasing 51K SF across the eighth floor at 229 West 43rd St., the company announced Wednesday. Columbia Property Trust owns the office part of the building, and the deal is with Engine Group, which has a direct lease for the space.

“As the former longtime home of one of America’s most respected media organizations, 229 West 43rd St. is truly a legendary New York City location,” Knotel’s global head of real estate and business development, Eugene Lee, said in a statement. “Our expansion in New York City continues, as we provide property owners with attractive alternatives to traditional leasing arrangements while delivering innovative and flexible real estate solutions for companies in an ever-changing market.”

Knotel, founded three years ago, has a New York City portfolio of more than 1.5M SF, and expects to reach 2M SF by the end of the year. In the last two weeks, it has announced in excess of 200K SF at new locations in New York City and San Francisco.

Last month, Knotel founder Amol Sarva said the company is expanding so rapidly it will be bigger than coworking giant WeWork within 15 months. WeWork is the biggest private tenant in Manhattan, with at least 7M SF under its control in the city.

Coworking and shared office space is a major part of the leasing market in the city — causing concern among some that the commercial real estate market would be hit even harder during the next downturn if providers struggle to retain tenants.

In the deal at 229 West 43rd St., Knotel was represented by Colliers International’s Michael Cohen, John Pavone and Jessica Verdi.