New York City is facing warnings from some billionaires that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s progressive policies could push businesses, wealthy people and investment out of the city. But Airbnb is making a very different move. The company recently bought a six-story building at 281 Park Avenue South in Manhattan for $81.5 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. The property is expected to become a major hub for Airbnb’s New York-area employees. The deal comes even as some of the city’s richest residents and business leaders have warned about the impact of higher taxes, housing policies and other changes under Mamdani. The Airbnb purchase therefore stands out as a major bet on New York.
Airbnb buys Park Avenue building for $81.5 million
As per the WSJ report, Airbnb has purchased 281 Park Avenue South, a six-story building in Manhattan’s Gramercy neighbourhood, for $81.5 million. The building is expected to become a workplace hub for Airbnb’s New York-area workforce, which includes more than 600 employees.Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said New York has been part of the company’s story since its early days.“New York City has been part of our story since the earliest days of Airbnb,” CEO Brian Chesky said in a statement to AM New York. “This building reflects our long-term commitment to the city and will be home to one of our largest employee hubs outside of San Francisco. We’re excited to keep investing in the city and the people who make it extraordinary.”The purchase is notable because Airbnb has had a long and difficult relationship with New York City over short-term rental rules.
Airbnb is still investing despite New York rental restrictions
New York has introduced tougher rules for short-term rentals, including Local Law 18, which was adopted in 2022. The rules significantly restricted Airbnb’s traditional short-term rental business in the city. Local politicians also backed a requirement that effectively prevents many short-term stays of less than 30 days.Notably, Airbnb is not the only major company expanding in the city. Anthropic, the company behind Claude AI, is leasing an entire 16-story office building at 330 Hudson Street in Manhattan. The expansion is much larger than Anthropic’s existing New York office at 155 Sixth Avenue. The new building will have space for around 1,700 desks.Anthropic had fewer than 500 employees in New York at the beginning of the year. The company expects to have more than 1,000 employees in the city by the end of the year. It is also hiring for research, engineering, policy, sales and operations roles in New York.
Why some billionaires are warning about New York
On June 25, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) voted to freeze rents for one- and two-year leases in the city’s approximately one million rent-stabilized apartments.Billionaire investor Bill Ackman previously warned that a Mamdani mayoralty could lead to a “flight of businesses from New York.” Citadel founder Ken Griffin has also urged New York business leaders to “fight for their city”. Griffin has publicly clashed with Mamdani over tax and housing issues. Citadel’s chief communications officer previously warned investors that the company could reconsider construction of a planned $6 billion Midtown Manhattan building. That move, however, has not happened.
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