Cravath to Anchor Brookfield’s Two Manhattan West Skyscraper

Brookfield Properties bet at the start of the year that it could begin construction on the second skyscraper in its Manhattan West project and find an anchor tenant later. Now it has.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP signed a lease for Two Manhattan West in New York, according to a statement Friday. The law firm will move into the 58-story office building, slated for completion in 2022, in 2024 and occupy 13 floors.

“When we were sitting there at the beginning of the year making the decision to commit,” it was on the heels of having pre-leased 90% of One Manhattan West, Ben Brown, managing partner at Brookfield Property Group, said in an interview.

Manhattan West

Source: Brookfield Properties

“We are thrilled Cravath, one of the nation’s leading law firms, will anchor Two Manhattan West,” he said in the statement.

Five other buildings make up the rest of the more than 7 million-square-foot, mixed-use complex. One Manhattan West, a 67-story skyscraper anchored by law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, is set to open this month.

Qatar Investment Authority acquired a 44% stake in Manhattan West in 2015. The project is part of a broader push to attract Midtown firms toward the Hudson River. That effort includes Related Cos Inc. and Oxford Properties Group’s $25 billion Hudson Yards project, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s extension of the 7 subway line into that area in 2015.

“We are pleased to partner with Brookfield in creating our new headquarters in this vibrant New York City neighborhood,” said Faiza J. Saeed, Cravath’s presiding partner.

Read more: Qatar Joins Brookfield’s $8.6 Billion Manhattan West Project

To contact the reporter on this story:
Gwen Everett in New York at geverett10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net

Josh Friedman, Dan Reichl

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