Amazon scopes out Midtown West office space: reports

Amazon’s much-hyped deal to bring part of its second North American headquarters to New York City collapsed in February, but the e-commerce giant is reportedly still shopping for office space in the city—this time in Manhattan.

The New York Post reports that Amazon is looking for office space in NYC once again, this time in new office buildings on the rise on Manhattan’s west side. Per the Post’s sources, the company is looking at two different spots in the Manhattan West megaproject: a 250,000-square-foot space in One Manhattan West, and a longer-term space “at the top of” Two Manhattan West. Developer Brookfield Properties is still on the hunt for an anchor tenant for the latter skyscraper, which is scheduled for completion in 2022.

The company may also be eyeing space within the redeveloped Moynihan Train Hall, which will have dedicated office space built into the landmarked James A. Farley Post Office building.

Midtown West was one of the areas the city originally pitched to Amazon in its bid for HQ2, noting that between all of the various office buildings under construction—including the Hudson Yards megaproject—there’s an estimated 26 million square feet of available space for tenants. But the tech giant went for Long Island City, where it was planning to build a 4 million square foot campus around Anable Basin. The backlash was swift and loud, and ultimately, Amazon pulled out of the deal.

There’s no indication that Amazon’s search for New York office space will be on par with what it had planned for HQ2: a hub for 25,000 employees, along with investments in public infrastructure and new schools, that came with the promise of billions of dollars in subsidies. For its part, Amazon told the Post it had no comment.