A once quiet Midtown office tower with WeWork in its rearview mirror is getting a fresh jolt of life. Corporate Suites has inked a 13-year lease for two full floors at 16 East 34th Street in Murray Hill, taking space in a long-vacant building that has been struggling to fill desks.
According to the New York Business Journal, Corporate Suites is taking the 18th and 19th floors under a 13-year agreement. The outlet reports the property was about 64% vacant before the deal. The story, by Kevin Smith, was published May 8.
What Corporate Suites Is Taking
Corporate Suites is locking in two contiguous full floors, specifically the 18th and 19th, in the 22-story Class B office tower at 16 East 34th Street. Typical floor plates there are about 19,355 square feet and the building totals roughly 372,048 square feet, according to LoopNet. That makes each floor a sizable block, well suited for a relatively quick, turnkey flexible-office buildout.
WeWork Roots At The Tower
The property is no stranger to co-working. It previously housed a WeWork location, and court filings tied to WeWork's Chapter 11 proceedings list 16 East 34th Street among the addresses associated with the company. Those references appear in public documents available through Epiq's docket for the WeWork cases, underscoring the building's shared-office history.
Why Landlords Are Leasing To Flex Operators
Across Manhattan, owners have been turning to flexible-office operators to fill large chunks of space as tenants push for plug-and-play layouts that can handle hybrid work routines. Industry data and analysis show that corporate use of flexible workspace has been climbing, and that makes long-term operator deals an appealing way to reduce vacancy and steady cash flow, according to Allwork.
For Corporate Suites, the Murray Hill lease locks in a longer-term foothold in Midtown. For the building's owner, that same 13-year commitment offers a clearer path to cutting vacancy and securing predictable income. The deal is one more sign that landlords and flexible-office operators are retooling Manhattan's office inventory to fit the realities of the post-pandemic market, one pair of floors at a time.
