CNN expands to 4 floors, 63,000 sf at 5 Penn Plaza - Cable News Network leases commercial space in New York, New York

Real Estate Weekly, June 17, 1992

In a major lease renewal and expansion more brokered by the Edward S. Gordon Company, Inc. (ESG), Cable News Network (CNN) has taken approximately 10,000 square feet of additional space at 5 Penn Plaza, bringing its total of committed and occupied space to over 63,000 square feet, announced Stephen B. Siegel, ESG's president.

By renewing its lease and adding the 20th floor, the network, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, continues its steady pattern of growth which began soon after it moved into 5 Penn Plaza in 1984.

ESG's Martin Turchin, Robert A.B. Baraf and Drew F. O'Malley represented the building's owner, 461 Eight Avenue Associates, in the 10-year transaction. Marisa Manley of Commercial Tenant Real Estate Representation Ltd., represented CNN.

Totally renovated, the distinguished 24-story tower at 5 Penn Plaza, situated across from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, contains over 600,000 square feet of prime office space.

Part of a growing news conglomerate that includes Headline News and CNN International, the Cable News Network enjoyed its most successful as well as memorable year in 1991. Lauded for its extraordinary coverage of the Persian Gulf War, the CNN segment of Turner Broadcasting finished the year with revenues of $479.5 million, an 18.3 percent increase over the prior year.

The network's success is, in part, due to its continued expansion overseas. Internationally, CNN established news bureaus last year in Amman, Rio de Janeiro and New Delhi and has just opened its newest bureau in Bangkok. That brings the total number of CNN bureaus worldwide to 28.

Not surprisingly, CNN's International news revenues reflect its global growth. They topped $51 million in 1991, a meteoric rise of 106.5 percent.

Turner Broadcasting launched CNN as the world's first 24-hour per day news network in 1980. Two years later, it initiated its Headline News service.