Amazon’s Long Island City Exit Doesn’t Change Citigroup’s Plans
Amazon’s Long Island City Exit Doesn’t Change Citigroup’s Plans
(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. may be abandoning Long Island City, but that’s not changing Citigroup Inc.’s plans.
The bank’s long-term effort to relocate most of its current Long Island City employees to other locations in the New York metropolitan area haven’t been altered, it said in an emailed statement Thursday. Citigroup currently has 3,000 people at One Court Square in Long Island City, and 500 at Two Court Square. When Citigroup’s lease at One Court Square ends next year, the company will have 1,000 people at the neighboring building.
“In order to accommodate Amazon’s plans to build a headquarters in Long Island City, we had planned to move about 1,500 people at One Court Square to other floors there or to Two Court Square,” Citigroup said in the statement. While “these transitional plans may change,” the bank’s long-term decision remains the same.
Amazon said on Thursday that it’s axing plans to build a new corporate campus in Long Island City, bowing to fierce opposition from some residents and politicians. The online retailer had hoped to occupy 15 floors of One Court Square by the second quarter of this year, and had planned to occupy eight additional floors by early 2020.
Citigroup has been consolidating employees at its headquarters, at 388 Greenwich St., since it began redoing the building in 2015, one of the largest private-sector renovations in New York City’s history. When the work is complete, the tower will house 12,000 employees, up from 9,000.
Citigroup has occupied most of One Court Square since the tower opened in 1990. As the lender moved more employees to its headquarters, it has subleased out some of its space in the building, which is owned by New York-based real estate investment firm Savanna.
A Savanna spokesman declined to comment.
--With assistance from Lily Katz.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jenny Surane in New York at jsurane4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Daniel Taub
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