Apple Grows Midtown Footprint in 95,000-Square-Foot Lease Deal

Apple is significantly expanding its presence in the Penn District, signaling a major commitment to Midtown. The tech giant is adding 95,000 square feet across two additional floors of Vornado Realty Trust’s Penn 11, bringing its total occupancy within this premium Manhattan office space to 550,000 square feet.

This newest lease runs parallel to Apple’s existing agreement, which expires in 2035, and was signed at an asking rent of $90 per square foot. The expansion means the tech giant now occupies the fourth floor, as well as floors eight through 16 of the 26-story building. Importantly, the top two floors of this added space were previously occupied by AMC Networks, which recently renewed its lease for five years, but then downsized its space significantly, going from 335,000 square feet to 177,000 square feet. It remains unclear whether Apple’s new square footage was a direct sublease from AMC Networks or if Vornado was directly involved in facilitating the transaction.

The 1.15-million-square-foot building, historically known as the Equitable Life Assurance Building, was designed by Starrett & Van Vleck and completed in 1923. Since then, it has undergone several renovations, leading to its current LEED Gold Certification and distinctive tiered setbacks. Apple first arrived at the property in 2020 by subleasing 220,000 square feet from Macy’s for six years. The company then expanded repeatedly with its last growth move in November 2024 adding 61,000 square feet (also previously held by Macy’s)  at $85 per square foot.

In terms of ownership, Vornado, led by Steve Roth, originally purchased 11 Penn in 1997 as part of a $437 million portfolio deal with the late Bernard Mendik that also included 2 Penn Plaza. More recently, in July 2025, the company secured $450 million in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) debt. This was part of a five-year loan used to refinance the property. The CMBS transaction was co-originated by Citigroup, BMO Capital Markets and Société Générale.

Notably, this expansion trend is not isolated: Tenants at Vornado’s other area properties are also growing. For example, Samsung doubled its footprint at the company’s 2.5-million-square-foot Penn 1 to 71,000 square feet in June 2025 under a new 10-year lease.