Park Avenue South Tech Campus Spirals Toward Default After Meta's Early Exit
Once the site of the hottest tech hub in Midtown South, 225 and 233 Park Ave. S. have rapidly fallen from grace and are now teetering on the edge.
Meta Platforms has officially exited the campus, paying $33M to terminate its lease, and a loan backed by the two buildings has been sent to a special servicer for an "imminent monetary default," according to a Morningstar Credit report.
Orda Management Corp., run by Morton Silver and his son, Thomas, borrowed $430M from Barclays in 2017 to refinance the interconnected buildings. The sum was split into a $235M CMBS loan and a $195M unsecuritized mezzanine loan.
The CMBS loan matures in 2027. At the time of origination, the property was valued at $750M. The 675K SF campus consists of a 13-story building and a 19-story building, which had been fully occupied before tenants started looking for the exits.
Orda has owned the minicampus since 1954 but spent over $113M upgrading it. The refurbished buildings then drew tenants like Facebook in 2016 and BuzzFeed's global headquarters in 2014, helping to cement the area near Union Square as the center of Manhattan's thriving tech scene. But recent years haven't been as kind.
Facebook, Meta's subsidiary, had been the biggest tenant, but it terminated its lease for more than 200K SF in 2022. Engineering consultant STV occupies 20% of the leasable space and is planning to exit when its lease expires in May, according to servicer commentary. Meta’s space and STV’s 133K SF are being marketed.
Meta expanded in other parts of the city, such as Hudson Yards, before slashing its real estate portfolio in the years following the onset of the pandemic. BuzzFeed also ditched its offices in 2022 as the company has undergone turmoil.
BuzzFeed subleased its 110K SF at the campus to software company Monday.com. The agreement is set to expire in May 2026, Crain’s New York Business reported.
In 2019, Orda put the campus on the market, according to The Real Deal, but property records show it hasn't sold.
Orda couldn't be reached directly. Brokers listed on the building’s website didn't immediately respond to Bisnow’s requests for comment. Representatives for Meta also didn't immediately respond.
