The National Football League has reached an agreement to take three floors at 345 Park Avenue, the 1.8 million square foot skyscraper owned by Rudin Management.
According to a source, the NFL will take three floors in the 44-story building, 5, 6 and 7, what one person familiar with the transaction said amounted to between 130,000 to 150,000 square feet.
In brokerage circles, the NFL had long been spoken about as a large tenant in the market for a big deal, but it has appeared to put off making a move on more than one occasion in recent years.
Some say the League’s stutter-steps towards a real estate decision are because it doesn’t like to focus on tasks like leasing while the season is in progress and its attention is on football.
With the Super Bowl scheduled for next Sunday, the deal appears to be taking form at a time that coincides with an impending off-season, what appears to be a perfect window to finally consummate a lease.
The NFL will be relocating from 280 Park Avenue, where New York Post real estate columnist Lois Weis reported the League has 111,672 square feet. Weis reported then that Bill Rudin, chief executive of Rudin Management, was trying to strike a deal to bring the League to 345 Park Avenue.
According to the CoStar Group, the three floors that the NFL is in talks to take at 345 Park amount to 143,131 square feet, meaning that the move appears to be an expansion.