Spotify Keeps Subleasing Pricey New York Office Space as Pandemic, Layoffs Thin Ranks

Photo Credit: Silverstein Properties

Spotify subleases its pricey New York office space as the pandemic and continued layoffs thin the company’s ranks.Spotify’s spendy New York City office space at 4 World Trade Center is getting some new subletters, according to reports from spokespeople for landlord Silverstein Properties. The Stockholm-based music streaming company has subleased 69,000 square feet on the 59th and 60th floors to payroll management company Rippling, after having subleased over 85,000 square feet to language learning platform Duolingo late last year.

Last spring, Spotify revealed plans to vacate some of its 564,000 square feet of office space at 4 World Trade Center as a result of cost-cutting (and layoffs) and its work-from-home policy. In December, the company announced a deal to sublease 85,666 square feet to Duolingo; the additional subleasing deal with Rippling means Spotify has offloaded around 154,666 square feet of that space.

Spotify broker Colliers reveals that the company was represented in the deal by Colliers’ Sheena Gohil, Brian Given, Eric Ferriello, and Jack Senske, while JLL’s Kyle Riker and Justin Haber represented Rippling. Rippling is relocating its New York office from the sixth floor of 470 Park Avenue South. Spokespeople for Colliers declined to share the asking rent in the deal with Spotify.While the brokers in Duolingo’s deal are unknown, the company is paying $62 per square foot for the space it began subletting from Spotify on January 1, according to a filing from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The New York Business Journal reports Duolingo is moving its offices from a WeWork location at 85 Broad Street.

In its continued efforts to cut costs, Spotify saw several rounds of layoffs last year, having cut 600 jobs in January and another 200 in June. In December, Spotify announced yet another round of layoffs, around 17% of staff, with over 750 of those 1,500 workers based in New York.

Spotify initially moved into the offices at 4 World Trade Center in 2018 when the company was expanding its footprint; the streaming giant is among the most significant tenants in the building, with 14 floors of offices in the 72-story tower.