Vornado's Steve Roth takes ‘victory lap' for PENN 1 and PENN 2

Vornado scored a 38,000-square-foot expansion at PENN 1 by payroll and HR management platform Gusto, which brought the redesigned tower to over 90% leased.

PENN1 is more than 90% leased after payroll and HR management platform Gusto signed a lease for 38,000 square feet.

Vornado leased 978,000 square feet of Manhattan offices in the year’s first half, Roth said — most with an average starting rent of $105 per square foot.

He declared a “victory lap” for both PENN 1 and sister property PENN 2 across from Madison Square Garden.

At PENN 1, “broadly speaking, we invested $200 per square foot to achieve a $50 a foot uptick in rents, which when all gets said and done, is a 25% return,” Roth said.

Vornado spent $450 million to turn the once obsolescent building into a sparkling, 2.5 million square-foot trophy with a dramatic new glass curtain wall.