Facebook’s parent company Meta is enlarging its footprint in Manhattan as one of the world’s top tech firms gives a vote of confidence to New York City’s comeback from the pandemic.
The social network is leasing an additional 300,000 square feet of office space at 770 Broadway in the East Village, according to Bloomberg News.
Facebook has already leased space at the same building, which is located at the corner of Broadway and Astor Place.
It will occupy space that was vacated earlier by Verizon Media, which has re-branded itself as Yahoo, and which is giving up the office space as it swithes to a hybrid model of remote and office-based work.
“We are proud to be a part of New York City’s business ecosystem and are constantly evaluating ways to help attract and retain our diverse talent base here,” a Facebook spokesperson told Bloomberg News.
Manhattan’s commercial real estate market appears to be rebounding after a rough period brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. CBRE, which tracks office numbers in the borough, said that leasing activity rose 100% year over year as of March 31.
Bringing workers back to the office is widely viewed as key to the city’s economic recovery as foot traffic benefits small businesses patronized by commuters going to and from their jobs.
Facebook is leasing an additional 300,000 square feet of office space at 770 Broadway in Manhattan.Google Earth
Placer.ai, a site that tracks office building foot traffic, reported a 107% increase in foot traffic to Manhattan office buildings in February compared to the same month last year.
But the traffic was still 46.7% under January 2019, just before the pandemic struck.
Despite the good news, however, office vacancies remain high as companies continue to allow employees to work from home.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have urged business leaders to bring their employees back into the office on a full time basis.