The Manhattan office market continues to surprise with unexpected new leases and expansions – and now, a most unlikely relocation that nobody saw coming.  

Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund manager, has inked a deal to open its first Manhattan office. The Westport-based firm closed on a hush-hush, 60,000 square-foot lease at 295 Fifth Ave. late last week, Realty Check has learned.

The former Textile Building takes up the entire east blockfront between West 30^th and West 31^st streets. Owners Tribeca Investment Group (TIG), PGIM Real Estate and Meadow Partners spent $350 million to redevelop the century-old, 700,000 square-foot property for modern office use. Upgrades include a new, two-story penthouse, a ground-floor courtyard, terraces and hospitality amenities.

Bridgewater’s expansion to Manhattan occurs after a reported modest downsizing 18 months ago, which saw 100 jobs cut out of 1,300. It will keep most employees in Connecticut but its Manhattan move marks its first location outside that state. CEO Nir Bar Dea, who succeeded founder Ray Dalio, has taken other steps to change the firm’s insular culture.

The negotiations were first reported by Bloomberg a few weeks ago, but the deal hadn’t closed. The size of the lease wasn’t known until now. Nobody would speak to us including JLL brokers who repped Bridgewater and CBRE which repped the landlord. 

Bridgewater’s lease reflects a sea change in the Midtown South leasing dynamic.

A new CBRE report finds that the district “has evolved into a more balanced leasing market” that includes financial and legal tenants as the tech industry, long the dominant leasing sector, pulls back.

The survey by Michael Slattery and Jared Koeck states that the more diverse industries hunting in Midtown South “is a return to what was typical before tech’s ascent in 2014-2019.”

Upgrades to supply and addition of amenities “will now benefit a broader tenant mix,” CBRE says. And as availability tightens in trophy  properties throughout Manhattan, “Midtown South is poised to capture the spillover of demand.”

Tech sector leasing activity in the submarket, which peaked at 46% in 2019, gradually ebbed from 2021-2023 and totals only 17% so far this year.

The report notes that Midtown South’s mostly older properties appealed to tech firms’ preference for non-glass and non-steel buildings, and for “non-corporate-vibe” features like exposed ceilings, polished concrete, and exposed brick.”

Demand drove 5.8 million square feet of new construction —which includes SL Green’s 1.4 million square-foot One Madison — and  13.3 million sf of renovations. 

The supply improvements “now benefit a more equitable industry mix,” CBRE said.