Legal-AI player Legora is leveling up in New York, locking in an entire floor at an SL Green office tower in Manhattan as it races to bulk up its U.S. footprint. The Swedish startup, which planted its first New York flag less than a year ago, is now moving into territory that used to be the private playground of banks and old-guard law firms, according to landlords and brokers watching the trend.
Legora Lands A Full Floor
CoStar reports that Legora has taken a full floor in an SL Green-owned Manhattan tower, with 11 Madison Avenue singled out as one of the trophy properties now drawing AI tenants. According to that coverage, the lease is part of a broader surge of AI deals reshaping the office market this year, with brokers from Newmark and JLL tracking how fast these firms are trading shared space for showpiece floors.
Funding Fuels Expansion
Legora is not scaling on vibes alone. Per its own Legora press release, the company raised $550 million in a Series D round earlier this year that pegged its valuation at roughly $5.55 billion and turbocharged its U.S. growth plans. The firm says it has been opening hubs across North America, strengthening its engineering presence in New York, and expects to keep adding headcount in the region through 2026. That kind of bankroll helps explain why Legora is now taking contiguous, full-floor space instead of nibbling at smaller satellite suites.
Part Of A Broader AI Leasing Wave
Legora is hardly the only AI shop spreading out. Across Midtown and Midtown South, AI tenants have been swallowing up bigger blocks of space this year. As reported by The Real Deal, startups Clay and Harvey AI have also grabbed floors in SL Green buildings, with Clay inking a roughly 163,000-square-foot lease at 11 Madison and Harvey adding tens of thousands of square feet at One Madison. That run of deals has pushed landlords to rethink their leasing playbooks. Market research cited in the same coverage shows annual AI leasing jumped sharply between 2024 and 2025, and that momentum carried into 2026.
Landlords Respond
Building owners are not just watching from the sidelines. Many are rolling out pre-built full floors and faster move-in options tailored to software and AI tenants that tend to grow in bursts. SL Green’s own public availability listings highlight multiple full-floor, pre-built units with immediate occupancy across its portfolio, a clear attempt to turn AI interest into signed leases. According to SL Green, some towers now feature turnkey creative suites that are meant to catch the eye of companies that are scaling quickly and do not want to wait on lengthy build-outs.
What To Watch
Looking ahead, more vertical AI firms are expected to chase contiguous floors, high ceilings, and recognizable addresses as they bulk up teams to serve enterprise clients, keeping the fight for prime Manhattan space hot. TechCrunch has flagged Legora’s rapid fundraising and hiring as the financial engine behind its aggressive real estate strategy. For brokers and building owners, the open question is whether demand from AI tenants will keep pushing rents higher or force a broader reshuffle of how Manhattan office towers are positioned in the market.
