HELL'S KITCHEN — Two new tenants agreed to move into the massive 47-story office tower that will anchor the Related Companies' and Oxford Properties' Hudson Yards development, the companies announced on Wednesday.
French cosmetics maker L'Oréal and German software company SAP will join handbag maker Coach in occupying office space in the 1.7-million-square foot-tower.
L'Oréal USA leased 402,000 square feet for their corporate headquarters, and SAP leased $115,000 square feet on the top floor fours of the building. The leases mean that space in the South Tower is now more than 80 percent full.
“The Hudson Yards development is at the core of a pioneering new neighborhood and L’Oréal USA is proud to be part of it," said Frédéric Rozé, the company's president and CEO, in a statement.
"Relocating our corporate headquarters is an exceptional opportunity to provide our employees with a workplace for tomorrow and a headquarters that best represents our very creative and innovative company and our mission of beauty for all."
The move was lauded by elected officials, including Governor Andrew Cuomo, who touted its economic benefit to the state.
"We welcome L’Oréal and SAP to their new home alongside Coach in Hudson Yards, and look forward to continuing to support them in creating new jobs for New Yorkers and new investments in New York," Cuomo said in a statement.
Related's Hudson Yards project was the result of a comprehensive rezoning process approved by the city in 2005. After the economic downturn hit, the project languished — largely because of difficulty finding tenants for the huge new buildings.
In 2011, Coach announced that it would move about 1,600 employees from its offices on West 34th Street to the tower, taking up about 740,000 square feet of the building for its new headquarters.
Work on the building at West 30th Street and 10th Avenue kicked off in December. The tower is the first of several skyscrapers envisioned for the 26-acre site, totally 13 million square feet of new development. Many of the new buildings will be built on a platform built above the active rail yards there.
The LEED Gold tower, designed by architects Kohn Pederson Fox Associates, is set to be ready for occupancy on 2015.
