Tech-focused Zero Irving tower lands new leases at former Palladium site

The frenzy at 124 E. 14th St. went from disco to digital.

Zero Irving, the tech-focused boutique office tower on the former Palladium disco site, is closing out a banner year.

A just-signed, 25,000-square-foot lease with Dick’s Sporting Goods brings the 21-story, 176,000-square-foot project near Union Square Park to about 90% taken. Meanwhile, the building’s signature public feature, a 10,000 square-foot ground-floor Urban Space food hall, opened last week.

Dick’s is the parent company of GameChanger, the top-rated youth sports platform for live streaming and other sports interaction. GameChanger will occupy the tower’s 17th and 18th floors.

Zero Irving, the brainchild of RAL Development Services, JRE Partners and architecture firm Davis Brody Bond, previously signed Melio Payments, Sigma Computing, Laurel Road, Alpine Investors, and, the largest tenant, Civic Hall, a digital skills training center and event space that will have six floors.

And another prestigious tenant is coming. Although the developers wouldn’t confirm it, online newsletter The Information reports that Menlo Park-based venture capital firm Sequoia, has leased its first space outside California at Zero Irving — which will bring the tower to near 100% leased.

Asking rents started at $120 per square foot. The ask for two remaining floors at the top is $180 psf.

The $200 million project was a big risk for the developers. They signed a long-term ground lease with the city, which owned the land, four years ago.

“It’s been a saga since then,” said RAL managing director Josh Wein. “We built it through Covid with all the uncertainties.”

He attributed its swift lease-up to sophisticated amenities attuned to today’s tech-driven companies. Employees will enjoy a large, landscaped roof deck; a 14,000 square-foot event and conferencing space; and a full-service fitness center and bike room.

Alternating floors boast corner double-height dedicated spaces with 23-foot ceilings and expansive views from higher floors.

Wein said the Union Square Park area has bounced back strongly since the pandemic’s darkest days. He’s optimistic about Manhattan’s premier office buildings of all sizes, but he acknowledged that many “Class-B and C properties are really struggling.”
The GameChanger lease was handled by JLL on both sides — Simon Landman for the tenant and Mitchell Konsker, Ben Bass, Kristen Morgan, Danny Turkewitz and Carlee Palmer for the landlord.