UK Publisher Moves to Wall Street

NEW YORK CITY-UK-based GDS Publishing Inc. is moving into a larger space within the Downtown submarket. The company has opted for a long-term lease of 20,240 square feet on the fifth floor at 40 Wall St., a property owned and managed by the Trump Organization. It’s planning to move from its current 12,000-square-foot US headquarters at 33 Whitehall St. by year’s end.

“Due to their continued success, GDS Publishing outgrew its current US headquarters before the end of its current lease,” says Jared Freede, a director at FirstService Williams, in a release. Freede, who represented GDS along with FSW director Greg Wang, adds that “a year-long search” that considered multiple locations ended at 40 Wall, “due to its centralized location in the Financial District and the ability of the landlord to accommodate all of the client’s needs.”

Brad Gerla, an EVP at CB Richard Ellis who led a team representing Trump, confirms a published report that the 40 Wall ownership will make modifications to GDS’ new space, “although the space is already built out.” Tax breaks specific to Lower Manhattan commercial tenants were also a factor, according to Freede, along with the increasingly 24/7 nature of Downtown. Asking rents for the fifth-floor space at 40 Wall are reportedly $38 per square foot.

Along with Trump EVP Donald Trump Jr. and Jeffrey Lichtenberg, special consultant to Trump, other members of the landlord’s team included CBRE SVP Adam Foster, first VP Greg Rothkin, associate Megan Holzhauer and financial analyst Rima Shpolyansky, Gerla tells GlobeSt.com. FSW will market the space that business publisher GDS is vacating at 33 Whitehall, according to a release.