Vornado Realty Trust 888 Seventh Ave. New York,NY10019

¬21 in 2021

We’ve increased our U.S. minimum hourly wage to $21 as a next step toward $25 by 2025.

Bank of America has raised our minimum rate of pay for all U.S. employees to $21/hour — the next step toward $25 by 2025. Over the past four years, we have led the way by increasing our minimum hourly wage 40%.

Being a great place to work starts with investing in the people who serve our clients. Providing strong pay and competitive benefits to support our employees and their families helps us attract and retain strong talent.

Our actions demonstrate our continuing commitment to sustain job growth and economic stability for the thousands of individuals working in support of each other, our clients and the communities where we work and live.

We will continue our efforts to make a difference and serve as a catalyst for others to do the same.

What would you like the power to do?®

José Tavarez President, Bank of America New York City

Learn more at bankofamerica.com/metroNY

IN THE MARKETS Signature Bank baf es analysts with record results

New York’s uneven revival has helped turbocharge the nancial institution’s stock, which is up 250%

Signature Bank, a leading lender to commercial- property owners and small businesses, reported record results last week as New York continues to emerge from its pandemic-induced coma.

“I’d call it the perfect storm,” Chief Executive Joseph DePaolo said on a conference call. “So many good things happened.”

Nothing but bad things were happening a year ago. Signature is a major lender to owners of rent-regulated apartment buildings, where half the tenants were unable to pay rent during the spring of 2020. Business borrowers had no cash to make payments on $11 billion worth of loans, or 25% of the nancial institution’s portfolio.

Signature last Tuesday said loan deferrals had shriveled to $254 million, or 0.4% of the portfolio.

“All the boroughs are doing better,” DePaolo said in an interview with Crain’s. “ e one thing we’re all watching is Manhattan.”

He said he’s optimistic because tourists are slowly returning.

“Months ago I only heard people speaking English on Fifth Avenue,” he said. “Now I’m hearing French, German and Japanese.” Fast growth Signature Bank is taking additional o ce space, he said, and starting Monday, most of the sta is returning to the o ce at least three days each week. New York’s uneven revival has helped turbocharge Signature’s stock, up 250% in the past 12 months. e KBW Bank Index has gained 79%. e outperformance re ects how Signature is growing faster than most banks. Loans grew by nearly 10% last quarter, to $59 billion; deposits climbed by $10 billion, to $95 billion; and net income soared by 74%, to $241 million.

Analysts were puzzled because the bank’s performance is far out of step with that of rivals struggling to nd borrowers.

“ is quarter’s performance was well ahead of guidance,” one analyst said during the call. “Um, just curious: What happened?”

Asked if it felt good to be asked that question, DePaolo acknowledged that it did.

Analyst Jack Civello of Janney Montgomery Scott said Signature’s exceptional results might not be sustainable. Nonaccrual loans— ones in which interest payments aren’t being made—rose to $165 million from $136 million in the second quarter. at’s a sign

AARON ELSTEIN “PERFORMANCE WAS WELL AHEAD OF GUIDANCE. UM, WHAT HAPPENED?” borrowers are struggling and could pressure pro tability down the road. DePaolo told analysts the bank probably won’t grow so fast in the future.

SIGNATURE’S DePaolo and Shay founded the bank 21 years ago.

Crypto player

For now, though, there’s great excitement around this little-known bank with no street-level branches. DePaolo founded it 21 years ago with Chairman Scott Shay. In addition to providing loans to New York property owners and businesses, Signature is becoming a player in the fast-moving world of cryptocurrencies, thanks to Signet, a blockchain-based payment platform.

“We’re coming through the pandemic in a very, very favorable way,” DePaolo said. ■

REAL ESTATE

Law rm leasing doubles in New York City

BY NATALIE SACHMECHI

The city’s law rms are back in expansion mode, leasing nearly 800,000 square feet of space during the third quarter of the year—almost double the amount they took the previous quarter, according to data from Savills. e rms recognize the importance of collaborating at work, and some are taking advantage of the amount of availability on the market to move into nicer suites at lower rates. ey are also scoring concessions from their landlords such as free rent and lease exibility, said Sarah Dreyer of Savills.

“ ere’s a greater sense of comfort now,” Dreyer said. e rms also are making longer-term com-

mitments of 10 to 20 years, compared with the ve-year leases signed earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic, she said.

Compared with other cities, law rm activity in New York was more negatively impacted at the height of the pandemic. During the rst half of 2020, major rms leased just 541,665 square feet of space, compared with almost 1 million square feet during the rst half of 2019, a previous Savills study revealed.

Citywide sublease availability also rose, by 65% from the fourth quarter of 2019, to nearly 21 million square feet.

A strong Q3

Legal powerhouses are coming out of the shadows and renewing leases or expanding to larger o ces, making the third quarter the strongest for leasing volume since the pandemic began. e rise in activity was led by a 400,000-square-foot lease renewal by Fried Frank at its o ces at 1 New York Plaza in the Financial District; a 132,100- square-foot renewal by Seyfarth Shaw at 620 Eighth Ave. in Midtown; a 25,000-square-foot expansion at Lowenstein Sandler’s o ces at 1251 Sixth Ave., bringing its total footprint to 125,700 square feet; and Mintz’s relocation to a 101,400-square-foot o ce at 919 ird Ave.

Meanwhile, a slew of smaller rms—including Teitler & Teitler; Weinberger Singer; and Rubin, Fiorella, Friedman & Mercante— have been picking up o ce space around the city in recent weeks.

Although technology, the media and some other industries continue to thrive with a virtual-work model, in-o ce collaboration is key to the success of law rms, said Tom Fulcher of Savills.

“Firms feel like you can’t replicate talent and training through Zoom,” Fulcher said. “ e culture

“FIRMS FEEL LIKE YOU CAN’T REPLICATE TALENT AND TRAINING THROUGH ZOOM” and teaching moments happen because you’re in a room together.” Some law rms are down sizing, however, including Chicago-based Jenner & Block, which inked a 15-year deal for new digs at the Durst Organization’s 1155 Sixth Ave. in the spring. ■