Financial giant State Street - firm behind Wall St's 'Fearless Girl' statue - tells 500 NYC workers it will NOT return to its offices: Staff can work from home or new shared workspace
Financial giant State Street will close its two Manhattan offices as its employees 'adapt quickly' to working from home, making it the latest company to rethink the need for physical space in New York.
The company will shutter its offices at 1290 and 1040 Avenue of the Americas, nestled in the heart of Midtown Manhattan between Rockefeller Center and the Museum of Modern Art.
More than 500 employees will be affected by the $315 billion company's plans to sublease the spaces, according to the Wall Street Journal.
State Street's lease at 1290 Avenue of the Americas consisted of 106,000 square feet, according to real estate website The Real Deal.
State Street, a financial services company that commissioned the Fearless Girl statue in 2017, will shut down its New York offices and open a co-working space in their place
An average price of $70 per square foot means that State Street's monthly rent potentially hovered at $7.4 million.
'We absolutely see the value for having physical space in the area that serves as a hub for employees and clients in the NYC area,' State Street said in a statement.
'But we also know this is a tremendous opportunity to reimagine and redesign the workplace in a very fit-for-purpose way that improves performance, productivity and our employees’ experience.'
The financial services company is best known for commissioning the Fearless Girl statue, which was installed in front of the iconic Charging Bull on Wall Street in 2017 for International Women's Day.
The statue was later moved outside the New York Stock Exchange building after complaints from the Bull's sculptor.
State Street's profits have declined as pandemic-induced low-interest rates cut into its gains.
The firm has previously announced plans to cut 1,200 jobs, or 3 percent of its workforce.
The company holds about $315 billion in assets. It consults central banks and insurance companies on regulations and asset management and it owns an asset management system
State Street will add a shared workspace in Manhattan for those who want a 'hybrid' model of working from home and heading to the office, the company told its employees in May.
The company told DailyMail.com that they previously closed an office at 780 Third Avenue in 2016.
State Street's monthly rent at that building would have been a minimum of $660,000, based on floor space of 11,000 square feet and a minimum price of $60 per square foot, according to Metro Manhattan's Alan Rosinsky.
The firm runs an information management system, called Charles River, that helps investment firms and hedge funds manage their assets.
They also consult with central banks and insurance companies to help them navigate regulations and grow their assets.
Other companies fleeing New York include Paul Singer' Elliot Management, which is moving its headquarters to West Palm Beach, Florida, a state with no income tax.
Blackstone, a NYC-based private equity alternative investment management firm with assets of $34 billion, also announced it was going to open an office in Miami.
A person familiar with the matter told the WSJ that Goldman Sachs is planning to expand in West Palm Beach by as much as several hundred people in the near future.