Overview
- Airbnb closed on 281 Park Avenue South, the six‑story landmark known as the Church Missions House, in a deal reported at about $81.5 million.
- The acquisition is the company’s first owned New York City office and will serve as one of Airbnb’s largest hubs outside San Francisco for its roughly 600 New York‑area staff.
- The seller was Aby Rosen’s RFR, which bought the property in 2014 and had listed it for about $135 million in 2022 before taking it off market and later returning it to sale.
- The purchase comes as Airbnb continues to press city and state officials to loosen Local Law 18, the 2023 rule that requires host registration and platform verification and sharply cut the number of listings in the city.
- Reporting also tied the company’s political spending to its New York push, saying Airbnb gave about $10 million to an affiliated PAC last year that spent more than $1.3 million opposing candidates critical of the platform.