FIFA's $4M Trump Tower Lease Sits Mostly Unused, NYT Reports

FIFA signed a lease worth about $4 million for nearly 5,000 square feet in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, and current and former officials say the space is rarely used, according to a New York Times report republished by The Independent on October 13.

Why it matters

For anyone pricing or brokering Midtown office space, the deal is a data point on a landmark tower where lease terms rarely surface. The reports describe a term of more than seven years, an occupant that already runs its U.S. operations from Miami, and an office that has mostly hosted events. The characterizations of the space as idle come from the Times and its sources. FIFA disputes the framing, saying the lease complies with all local laws and followed its standard internal process.

Divided evenly, $4 million over seven years across 5,000 square feet is about $114 per square foot per year. That is our arithmetic from rounded press figures, not a rent quoted in a lease document, which we have not seen.

The numbers

The Independent reported the $4 million value, the term of more than seven years and the nearly 5,000-square-foot size. A June Times report put the office on the 17th floor. The city’s PLUTO lot record shows the tower at 721 5 Avenue (block 1292, lot 7501) with 58 floors and 626,594 square feet of building area, built in 1983. That makes the FIFA suite less than 1% of the building.

What’s next

No lease document has been published, so rent, landlord entity and start date remain unconfirmed by us. A recorded memorandum of lease or an ACRIS filing would settle the term. We will update if one appears. More of our New York coverage is on the market page.