According to a source familiar with the situation, Coinbase is in the process of relocating to a new office in New York, bidding farewell to its current workspace at Hudson Yards.
As reported by the Commercial Observer on Monday, the cryptocurrency exchange has secured an eleven-year lease for a 67,208-square-foot area at One Madison in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. The new space marks a significant upgrade from its current location at 55 Hudson Yards, where Coinbase has been based since 2021.
The reason behind Coinbase’s decision to move to the larger office remains undisclosed. While the company has not altered its remote-work policy or indicated plans to expand its New York team, according to sources at The Block, its workforce size has remained relatively stable this year. As of the end of 2023, Coinbase had 3,416 employees, as indicated in its annual financial report submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
It remains uncertain whether Coinbase will terminate its existing lease at Hudson Yards or continue operating there until its expiration. The company has yet to respond to queries from The Block regarding this matter.
Details about Coinbase’s monthly rental expenses at One Madison have not been disclosed. However, Commercial Observer reported that Flutter Entertainment recently signed a lease in the same building at a rate of $170 per square foot.
In contrast, the building housing Coinbase’s current Hudson Yards office, spanning approximately 30,000 square feet, reportedly has average asking rents of $107 per square foot, according to Crain’s New York.
Coinbase’s relocation coincides with a period when tenants can secure favorable deals on new leases, given the efforts of Manhattan property developers to address the high office vacancy rates in New York City. As of 2023, landlords in the city were offering concessions averaging 24% of asking rents for office tenants signing new leases or relocating, particularly for properties exceeding 20,000 square feet, as per a study by real estate firm Avison Young cited by commercial property publication CoStar.
This office shuffle by Coinbase follows federal regulatory scrutiny faced by the company last June, when the SEC accused Coinbase of operating as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.
Despite these challenges, Coinbase’s financial performance has seen significant improvement this year, buoyed by the surge in cryptocurrency prices. The company reported its first profits in two years during the first quarter of 2024, according to its public filings. Meanwhile, its stock has appreciated by 68% over the past year, reaching $225.06 per share.
This isn’t the only recent rental agreement for Coinbase; last summer, the company began leasing a 40,000-square-foot space in California’s Bay Area, as reported by SFGate.
