Perplexity, the San Francisco-based AI answer engine, is expanding in Union Square by consolidating 22,000 square feet of office space across two adjacent Broadway buildings to accommodate its growing New York team.
What the deal includes
The company has inked a new lease for the full 14,000-square-foot fourth floor at 841 Broadway and is combining it with the roughly 8,000-square-foot fourth floor it leased at 853 Broadway in June, creating one connected workplace of about 22,000 square feet, according to Commercial Observer. The term of the new lease has not been disclosed. Feil handled ownership’s side of the deal in-house, while Perplexity was repped by Newmark brokers on the tenant side, per the report.
Perplexity's take
Nathan Barksdale, Perplexity's general counsel and vice president of operations, told New York YIMBY that "the connected space gives us the visibility and flexibility we were looking for," adding that the new layout is expected to "spark creativity and collaboration" among staff. He also noted that staying put in Union Square was a priority as the company scales its local headcount.
The buildings and layout
The two Feil Organization properties sit between East 13th and East 14th Streets just south of Union Square Park and function as a combined commercial complex of roughly 248,300 square feet, according to New York YIMBY. At the corner, 853 Broadway rises 21 stories, while 841 Broadway tops out at eight stories. Linking the fourth floors will let Perplexity operate across two very different buildings as if they were a single office. Other tenants in the complex include telehealth platform Nourish, tequila brand Casa Komos and investment firm Lepercq de Neuflize & Co.
Why landlords are reconfiguring
To make the deal work, Feil plans to remove the wall that currently separates the fourth floors, creating one contiguous plate tailored to a single tenant’s needs. That kind of surgical reconfiguration is increasingly common as office owners try to serve tech and AI firms that want larger, plug-and-play floors, according to New York YIMBY. The address also checks the commute box: the 14th Street–Union Square station, with the 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R and W trains, sits a short walk away, in the middle of a dense cluster of shops, bars and restaurants that make the neighborhood an easier sell for office returns.
Brokers, rents and takeaways
On the tenant side, Perplexity was represented by Newmark’s Marcella LaHara, Derek Feinman, and Adam Spector. Feil’s in-house leasing team, led by Andrew Wiener, Robert Fisher, and Henry Korzec, handled the ownership side, according to deal reporting and listing data from Traded. The new space reportedly carries an asking rent of about $85 per square foot, and public filings place the 841–853 Broadway complex in the Gramercy/Union Square office market near the 14th Street–Union Square transit hub, as per SEC records. Perplexity’s expansion shows that AI firms continue to establish a physical presence in central Manhattan locations when the space aligns with their operational needs.
