Coinbase leases larger New York office, abandons Hudson Yards workspace

Coinbase is relocating to a new office in New York, abandoning its Hudson Yards workspace in the process, a source familiar with the matter told The Block. 

On Monday, the Commercial Observer reported on a new rental agreement involving the cryptocurrency exchange. According to the real estate trade publication, the exchange this month signed an eleven-year lease for a 67,208-square-foot space at One Madison in Manhattan's Flatiron District. A source informed The Block that Coinbase will not retain its office at 55 Hudson Yards, which has been leased since 2021.

Coinbase did not comment on its reason for relocating to the new office, which is roughly twice as large as its Hudson Yards space. The company has neither changed its remote-work policy nor signaled it will grow its team in New York, The Block's source said. 

According to the source, the exchange's headcount has remained relatively unchanged this year. The company had 3,416 employees as of the end of 2023, its annual financial report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows.  

It is unclear whether Coinbase is breaking its existing lease at Hudson Yards or if it will stay there until it expires. Coinbase did not immediately respond to The Block’s question on the matter. 

Coinbase did not disclose how much it pays in monthly rent at One Madison. However, sports betting firm Flutter Entertainment signed a lease this month for a space in the same building at $170 per square foot, Commercial Observer reported. 

By comparison, the building that houses its Hudson Yards office, which measures roughly 30,000 square feet, boasts average asking rents just north of $100 per square foot, Crain's New York reported, citing an independent study. 

Coinbase's relocation is happening at a time when tenants can score deals on new leases, as Manhattan property developers offer concessions to bring down the high rate of office unit vacancies in New York City. As of 2023, Big Apple landlords were offering, on average, concessions worth 24% of asking rents for office tenants who signed relocation or direct new leases of at least seven years for properties measuring 20,000 square feet or more, commercial property trade publication CoStar reported, citing a study from real estate firm Avison Young 

The exchange's workspace shuffling comes months after federal regulators cracked down on the company. Last June, the SEC charged Coinbase for allegedly operating as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker and clearing agency.

Despite those issues, the company finances are on the mend, showing significant improvement this year amid a run-up in cryptocurrency prices. Coinbase posted its first profits in two years during the first quarter of 2024, its public filings show. Meanwhile, shares of the company's stock have surged 68% to $225.06 per share over the past year.  

This isn't the only rental agreement Coinbase has inked in recent months. Last summer, the company began leasing a 40,000-square-foot space in California's Bay Area, SFGate reported.