Banking giant Wells Fargo is expanding its office footprint in New York City's Hudson Yards, billed as the largest U.S. private real estate development, and consolidating most of its city office employees at one location.
Wells Fargo has bought 445,000 square feet across floors five to seven at 20 Hudson Yards within the mixed-use development in Manhattan, a company spokesperson told CoStar News, adding the deal occurred this month. That adds to the nine floors Wells Fargo previously purchased at 30 Hudson Yards in 2015. The buildings are connected internally and will include 950,000 square feet in total, the spokesperson said.
Wells Fargo is said to have shelled out about $550 million for what was formerly a Neiman Marcus luxury retail store at 20 Hudson Yards. The spokesperson declined to comment on deal terms.
About 2,300 Wells Fargo employees are expected to move to the new space from the company’s current office at 150 E. 42nd St. beginning in late 2026, the San Francisco-based firm said in a statement. Wells Fargo already has some 2,000 employees based at 30 Hudson Yards, the company spokesperson told CoStar News.
The relocation plan affects only its Manhattan office staff and doesn’t include nearby offices in New Jersey, or retail branch locations, the spokesperson said, adding New York and New Jersey is one of Wells Fargo’s 10 largest employment markets.
Wells Fargo’s current space at 150 E. 42nd, between Lexington and Third avenues and owned by David Werner Real Estate, spans more than 433,000 square feet, according to CoStar data.
“This investment further solidifies our long-standing commitment to NYC and will help us create an enhanced, more collaborative environment for our NYC-based employees,” Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said in the statement. “Our new space at Hudson Yards will allow us to bring our Manhattan employees together in one place where they can work in a new, modern workplace as we work to build a stronger company.”
Wells Fargo has engaged Related Cos., Hudson Yards' developer, to convert the space. Its new offices will include room for collaborative work and amenities such as a food hall with rotating local restaurants, Wells Fargo said, adding there also will be an all-day coffee bar with views including that of the Vessel, the giant honeycomb-looking public art installation that's the focal point of the complex.
The building will include a dedicated entrance for Wells Fargo on 10th Avenue and naming rights on the exterior of the property.
Besides office space, the massive $25 billion mixed-use Hudson Yards features an Equinox hotel and residential towers as well as retail shops, restaurants and tourist attractions such as the popular Edge observation deck. It’s across from Brookfield’s Manhattan West development and near Vornado’s Penn District complex surrounding the Penn Station transit hub.
Hudson Yards has benefited from the so-called flight to quality of well-resourced companies seeking new or renovated top-tier properties to attract and keep talent. It also counts among other office occupants private equity firm KKR, which this year signed a lease spanning about 220,000 square feet at 30 Hudson Yards to double its already sizable footprint at the complex.
50 Hudson Yards, billed as the fourth-largest office building in New York and biggest to debut during the pandemic, counts investment giant BlackRock and Facebook parent Meta as its two largest tenants.
Wells Fargo’s “significant expansion demonstrates both the success of Hudson Yards' modern lifestyle offices and live, work, play environment, as well as the power of New York City to meet the evolving needs of the world’s most innovative companies,” Jeff Blau, CEO of Related Cos., said in the statement.