With an eye on getting creative employees back to work, fashion designer Alexander Wang is moving his global headquarters to the Seaport in Lower Manhattan.
The eponymous company has outgrown its longtime home at 386 Broadway in Soho and will move next year to the top floor of 200 Front St., right in the middle of the historic Seaport area.
“This was an opportunity to reimagine the corporate headquarters to accommodate the much larger company that exists today,” said Sean Black of BLACKre, who represented the designer.
There, employees will enjoy 20-plus-foot ceilings, a wraparound terrace overlooking the East River, skylights, a mezzanine, dedicated elevators and escalators and even access to roughly a dozen flagpoles lining the roof’s perimeter ready for innovative flags to pierce the sky.
“It will be designed to attract employees back to the office with a build-out that will foster physical collaboration and not only offer an open-plan concept but have cubic space, light and air,” Black said. “It is well located in a very vibrant area that will allow the streetscape to become an extension of the amenities.”
The space, a third-floor addition that’s set back on top of the Fulton Market Building and surrounded by a grand terrace, had been pulled from the market during the pandemic, said Gerry Miovski of CBRE, who represented the ownership along with Mary Ann Tighe, Brett Shannon, Zac Price and Marsha Dudelzak.
The unique penthouse will be configured to house all of the company’s offices as well as its showroom. “This was the perfect fit for both the tenant and the landlord,” Miovski said. He declined to discuss the rent on the 15-year deal noting, “It was about finding the right rent that worked for both Alexander Wang and Howard Hughes, for a tenant that was accretive to the neighborhood and was the right fit. It’s great for downtown.”
Alexander Wang, who launched his eponymous fashion house in 2005, had coincidentally presented a runway show and an after patry at the Seaport’s Pier 17 in 2018 prior to its redevelopment. But Black was unaware of that before narrowing down the possibilities from “hundreds” of choices.
In a statement, David R. O’Reilly, CEO of the Howard Hughes Corporation said, “Alexander Wang’s selection of the Seaport for its new NYC office and showroom reflects the growing demand we are seeing nationwide for commercial space that is surrounded by strong experiential offerings and integrated into our country’s most dynamic communities.”
Other companies that are now housed in the Seaport include iPic, the broadcasting studios of ESPN and Nike’s creative studio. The Fulton Building is now fully occupied while a variety of other spaces along with 88,000 square feet at Pier 17 are still available.