AI Legal-Tech Firm Orbital Moves Manhattan HQ With Full-Floor Lease at 40 West 25th Street

AI Legal-Tech Firm Orbital Moves Manhattan HQ With Full-Floor Lease at 40 West 25th Street

Orbital, an artificial intelligence platform serving real estate attorneys, has signed an 11,185-square-foot lease taking the entire sixth floor of 40 West 25th Street, a 12-story property in Manhattan’s Midtown South submarket, according to the tenant’s brokerage.

The company is relocating from 18 West 18th Street, which it had been using as a temporary office. The new space is a few blocks north in the Flatiron district. Terms such as asking rent and lease length were not disclosed, though CBRE data put average Midtown South office asking rents at $85.73 per square foot in the second quarter of 2026.

JLL‘s Valentin Stobetsky and Evan Margolin represented Orbital. Stobetsky said the company sought a workspace to support growth and help draw and keep employees, citing accessibility, amenities and the appeal of a full floor.

Kaufman Investments, a division of the Kaufman Organization, owns the landmarked property alongside AXA Insurance; the partners acquired it in 2020 for $48.5 million. Grant Greenspan and Michael Kaufman handled the landlord side of the transaction.

Founded in 2018, Orbital also operates offices in Los Angeles and London and says its technology supports more than 250,000 property transactions annually. CEO and co-founder Will Pearce described New York as a natural headquarters given its position at the center of both the U.S. legal and real estate industries.

The building’s tenant roster also includes vintage clothing retailer Hearts of Gold, which signed a 6,671-square-foot lease in 2023.

The deal is another data point in Midtown South’s office leasing activity, a submarket closely watched as landlords compete for technology and professional-services tenants. Both brokerages involved are publicly traded real estate services firms: JLL shares recently traded at $349.98, down 0.6% on the day, while CBRE, whose research supplied the submarket rent benchmark, changed hands at $141.90, off 0.25%.

What to watch

• CBRE’s upcoming quarterly office reports for updated Midtown South asking-rent and vacancy trends
• JLL and CBRE earnings releases for commentary on office leasing demand in Manhattan
• Announcements from Kaufman Organization on additional lease signings at 40 West 25th Street
• Orbital’s growth milestones, including headcount and office footprint changes

Source: original release