One of college football’s most famous trophies is moving into a Lower Manhattan landmark. The Heisman Trophy Trust has leased space at 120 Broadway, the landmarked office tower controlled by developer Larry Silverstein, and a replica of the Heisman Trophy will be displayed in the building’s public lobby and its 10th-floor tenant amenities center, according to the New York Post’s Realty Check column.
The lease runs for 10 years, and the trophy, an exact replica of the original awarded annually to college football’s most outstanding player, is expected to be viewable by both tenants and visitors to the Financial District building. The arrangement pairs one of American sports’ most recognizable artifacts with one of New York’s most storied office addresses.
120 Broadway is a 40-story skyscraper completed in 1915 and designed in the neoclassical style, long considered a landmark of the Financial District. It currently carries official landmark status, which means any changes to its protected exterior or designated interior features are subject to city review. The building has been associated with Silverstein Properties for decades and has been a centerpiece of the firm’s portfolio.
The deal is a small but telling datapoint for Manhattan’s office leasing market. Landmark buildings south of City Hall have been competing hard for tenants as new construction rises elsewhere in the corridor, and buildings have increasingly looked for distinctive anchor attractions, from museums to media studios to branded installations, to draw foot traffic. A trophy that draws sports fans and visitors into a public lobby fits that playbook.
Lobby attractions carry real leasing weight in the current market. Comparable draws in Manhattan, from broadcast studios to retail flagships, have been credited by brokers with lifting foot traffic and giving tenants a story to tell visiting clients, which in turn supports the rent premiums landmark buildings need to justify their operating costs. The Heisman installation adds a public-facing attraction at minimal construction cost to the landlord, since the trust’s display occupies existing lobby space rather than requiring new construction.
For Silverstein Properties, the arrangement also reinforces the firm’s long-running effort to position its older Financial District assets as destinations rather than plain office addresses. The company is best known for rebuilding the World Trade Center site, and 120 Broadway’s lobby display gives the firm another recognizable draw as it competes for tenants in a market where vacancy, while improved from recent years, remains a persistent challenge for older towers.
Office leasing activity in the Financial District has shown signs of life this year, with landlords offering prebuilt spaces, flexible suites and amenity packages to differentiate older stock from newer towers. The Heisman display adds a public-facing attraction at minimal construction cost to the landlord, since the trust’s installation occupies existing lobby space. Comparable lobby draws in Manhattan, from broadcast studios to retail flagships, have been credited by brokers with lifting foot traffic and giving tenants a story to tell visiting clients, which in turn supports the rent premiums landmark buildings need to justify their operating costs.
