Cohen and Kass of NGKF rep landlord, W&H Properties, in 72,000 lease to LinkedIn at the Empire State Building

Malkin Holdings has signed a lease with LinkedIn Corp. to increase LinkedIn's presence at W&H Properties' Empire State Building to 72,000 s/f on two full floors, according to Anthony Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings, which supervises the property. LinkedIn originally leased 32,000 s/f, comprising the entire 25th floor, in 2011. The new lease includes the full 23rd floor, which contains a little more than 40,000 s/f, and more than doubles LinkedIn's presence in the Empire State Building. Sacha Zarba of CBRE represented LinkedIn in the lease negotiations. William Cohen and Ryan Kass of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the landlord. Attorneys involved in the transaction were Deborah Churton Aikins of Liuzzi, Murphy, Solomon & Aikins, LLP for the tenant and David Bleckner and Ian Lester of David Bleckner, P.C., for the landlord. "Our amenities, leadership in energy efficiency, state-of-the-art building systems, and attentive, proactive management make the building a great solution for leading businesses," said Malkin. "From ownership's perspective, this transaction is also powerful reaffirmation of the Empire State Building's appeal as a world-class business environment that fosters growth." Malkin said that LinkedIn "joins a growing list" of high-profile tenants that have elected to expand significantly at the Empire State Building. That list includes the fragrance giant Coty, Inc., the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the U.S. arm of the Hong Kong-based global trading firm, Li & Fung. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, LinkedIn has 3,177 employees worldwide.