Report: United Nations to Move to 46th Street

The United Nations is moving at least 700 employees and 180,000 square feet of office space to 305 East 46th Street, according to a report in Real Estate Weekly.

A spokesman for the UN confirmed to Real Estate Weekly that the move will begin next year, as the famed UN Building undergoes an extensive renovation. The renovation of the building should last through 2015.

The UN employees will move into a 79-year-old building known as the Albano Building, which is just off Second Avenue and only blocks from its regular home. The UN's new home is a drab Class B building that needs an upgrade. The UN will foot the entire bill for all renovations.

The spokesman said it hasn't been determined which offices will move and which will stay during the six-year renovation. A source told Real Estate Weekly the rents for its new home will be under $50 per square foot, an inexpensive option during a time when Manhattan office rents are at all-time highs.

The spokesman said that the UN employees that relocate to East 46th Street are the “lucky ones because they only have to move once."