OpenAI To Open First NYC Office In Kushner-Owned Building
The company at the bleeding edge of the artificial intelligence revolution is opening up a large New York City office.
OpenAI has signed a lease for 90K SF at the Puck Building in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, The Wall Street Journal reports. The San Francisco-based company is fresh off a $6.6B funding round that valued it at $157B, making it the nation's most valuable startup and nearly twice its valuation from eight months earlier.
The Sam Altman-led company struck a deal with the 140-year-old building's owner, Kushner Cos. The red brick property also houses an office for Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm that has invested roughly $1.3B in OpenAI, The New York Times reported. Thrive was founded by Joshua Kushner, the son of Kushner Cos. founder Charles Kushner.
OpenAI was reportedly searching for a 60K SF office in Manhattan in February, but this deal is for 50% more space, potentially reflecting the company's growth trajectory.
The deal continues a major office footprint expansion for OpenAI, which also leased the entirety of a 315K SF office building in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood last month, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. It's the third full-building deal OpenAI has signed in San Francisco in the past year after taking over two buildings from Uber in 2023.
It also counts as another bit of good news for New York City office owners who are in the midst of a recovery from the battering they took during the pandemic. Leasing activity in the third quarter was up nearly 50% from the prior year, according to Savills, while availability hit a three-year low.
