Airbnb is doubling down on New York City despite its years-long battle with local officials over short-term rental restrictions, buying its first office in the Big Apple.
The San Francisco-based home-sharing giant paid $81.5 million for the landmarked property at 281 Park Ave. South in Manhattan’s Gramercy neighborhood, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
An Airbnb spokesperson confirmed to The Post that the company purchased the building and said the transaction closed Wednesday.
The six-story, 42,500-square-foot Beaux-Arts building will serve as a dedicated hub for Airbnb’s New York workforce, which numbers more than 600 employees in the region.
“This building reflects our long-term commitment to the city and will be home to one of our largest employee hubs outside of San Francisco,” Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky said in a statement.
“We’re excited to keep investing in the city and the people who make it extraordinary,” Chesky added.
The sale comes as Airbnb continues to push city and state officials to loosen New York’s stringent restrictions on short-term rentals.
Local Law 18, which took effect in 2023, dramatically tightened enforcement of the city’s long-standing limits on short-term rentals by requiring hosts to register with the city and forcing booking platforms to verify registrations before processing reservations.
Supporters of the law argued it was necessary to preserve New York’s housing stock and prevent residential buildings from functioning as unlicensed hotels.
Airbnb has countered that the restrictions deprive residents of supplemental income and have failed to address the city’s housing affordability crisis.
According to the Journal, Airbnb contributed $10 million last year to its Affordable New York political action committee, which spent more than $1.3 million opposing mayoral candidates Zohran Mamdani, Brad Lander and Scott Stringer, all of whom have been critical of the company.
Despite maintaining a “work anywhere” policy since 2022 that allows employees to work remotely or relocate within the US without a change in pay, Airbnb said it expects to maintain a significant presence in New York for years to come.
According to the company, many of its New York-based employees prefer to work from the office regularly, prompting the need for a dedicated employee hub.
The building was originally listed for sale in 2022 with an asking price of $135 million, according to Airbnb.
The seller, New York developer Aby Rosen’s RFR, bought the property in 2014. According to the Journal, Airbnb’s purchase price represented roughly a 63% gain over what RFR paid for the building more than a decade ago.
Built in 1894 and renovated in 2019, 281 Park Ave. South previously figured into one of New York’s most notorious recent fraud cases.
Anna Sorokin, who posed as wealthy German heiress Anna Delvey, allegedly used forged financial documents while attempting to lease the building for a private members’ club.
The project never materialized, and Sorokin was convicted in 2019 of defrauding banks, hotels and other businesses.
