Citadel seeks office space in New York as it awaits its new Park Avenue tower

• The hedge fund giant Citadel is said to be in talks to lease office space on Fifth Avenue.
• The planned move comes as the firm awaits the construction of its new 62-story tower on Park Avenue.
• It could be until 2030 when Citadel can move into the tower — its single largest office location.

Ken Griffin’s Citadel is looking to lease a large office along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, say two people familiar with the transaction.

The executives did not want to be identified because the deal is still in process and is considered confidential. The transaction may not be completed, one of the people warned, noting that bargaining over the deal was not finished.

The firm, one of the largest and most successful hedge funds in the industry, is looking to take 365,000 square feet at 660 Fifth Avenue, a 39-story midtown Manhattan office tower that recently underwent a $400 million renovation by landlord Brookfield Properties.

In late 2022, Citadel announced a deal to anchor a new 62-story skyscraper at 350 Park Avenue designed by the architecture firm Foster + Partners.

The hedge fund presently occupies space at the existing tower at 350 Park Avenue and a neighboring property that will be part of that redevelopment.

It will use 660 Fifth Avenue to house its offices as those buildings are demolished and the new 1.7 million-square-foot office skyscraper is built – a process that is expected to take several years.

Citadel and Citadel Securities, a separate company operated by founder and chief executive Griffin, together also have about 440,000 square feet nearby at 425 Park Avenue, another state-of-the-art tower that was completed in 2022.

A deal with Citadel would be a sign of activity for 660 Fifth Avenue after a lull. Brookfield acquired the building from Kushner Companies in 2018 and embarked on a heavy overhaul of the building, recladding the wedding-cake style property with a new facade that featured distinct large, rectangular window panes.

The Australian financial institution Macquarie Group signed on for 220,000 square feet, hedge fund Viking Global took nearly 140,000 square feet, and 400 Capital Management, an asset manager, grabbed 26,000 square feet, all in 2022. Leasing quieted, however, as Brookfield raised rents to try to capitalize on the momentum, with prices reaching as high as $200 per square foot or more for some of the building’s best spaces.

One of the executives with knowledge of Citadel’s real estate plans said that the firm is likely to begin moving from 350 Park Avenue to 660 Fifth Avenue around the end of 2025. It could take five or more years to demolish the building, raise the new tower, and ready its interior spaces for occupancy.

Citadel and Citadel Securities plan to take a combined 850,000 square feet in the new 350 Park Avenue, which would make the space the companies’ single largest office location.

The remainder of the tower’s square footage would be leased to other tenants, although Citadel has expansion rights as part of its agreement. The company plans to co-develop the project in a joint venture with New York-based landlords Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management.

The company announced in 2022 that it would relocate its headquarters from Chicago to Miami.

The deal at 660 Fifth Avenue, if it gets done, would follow another substantial recent transaction by a big name on Wall Street. Blackstone recently renewed and expanded its lease at its longtime home at 345 Park Avenue to 1 million square feet.