After a two-year search for new Manhattan headquarters, The Associated Press has settled on less expensive space far west of Rockefeller Center, where it has resided for 65 years. The new 15-year lease at 450 W. 33rd Street will cost the AP $170 million — far less than it would have paid to remain in Midtown.

When the AP moves into its 290,773 sq. ft. space at 450 W. 33rd in fall 2005, it will pay only $30 per sq. ft., vs. the $60 per sq. ft. it previously paid to Tishman Speyer for its space at 45 and 50 Rockefeller Center.

The move will consolidate the AP's 900 New York employees, as well as provide new amenities, such as outdoor terraces, athletic facilities, a health club, cafeteria and an open working environment. The space also will accommodate the AP's specific technical needs, such as 24-hour HVAC, numerous satellite dishes and generators for extensive emergency power. In addition, the AP will join a hotbed of media firms already located in the 1.7 million sq. ft. building, including the New York Daily News, the U.S. News and World Report and WNET.

The move may be the catalyst for future growth in the area, according to Mitchell Konsker, executive vice president of Cushman & Wakefield, which represented the AP in the deal: The City of New York plans to redevelop the 59-block area south of 42nd Street and west of Eighth Avenue, known as Hudson Yards.