Grow Therapy Takes 78,000 Square Feet at Essex Crossing, Its Second Big NYC Lease in a Year. What Its Playbook Shows Growing Companies
Mental health platform Grow Therapy is taking more than 78,000 square feet at 145 Delancey Street on the Lower East Side, with plans for 123 new jobs and up to $1.4 million in state Excelsior tax credits. A look at the deal and the lessons for companies planning their own expansion.
NEW YORK — A year ago, Grow Therapy moved its headquarters from SoHo to the Financial District. Now the mental health platform is planning a much bigger home across town.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Nov. 4 that Grow Therapy, which offers in-person and online therapy and psychiatric care, will open a new office of more than 78,000 square feet at 145 Delancey Street on the Lower East Side. The company plans to create 123 new full-time jobs, invest $9.9 million in research and development, and spend an additional $15 million building out the space.
Commercial Observer reported that the building is part of Essex Crossing and is owned by a joint venture of Taconic Partners, L+M Development Partners, BFC Partners, the Prusik Group and Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group. Asking rent, lease length and the brokers involved were not disclosed.
Two Leases, Two Neighborhoods, One Year
The new deal stacks on top of a commitment Grow made in November 2025, when it agreed to relocate its headquarters from SoHo to 100 Broadway, create at least 186 jobs over five years and invest $16 million in R&D, according to the state. Commercial Observer reported that the 100 Broadway space is 19,000 square feet in a Northwood Investors building.
Taken together, the state says Grow has now committed to creating 309 new jobs, retaining 94 and investing $40.9 million in its New York operations. The new roles will span technology, marketing and operations, and the R&D money will go toward technology and AI tools designed to assist clinicians.
“New York is our center of gravity: what we build in this city reaches everyone we serve in all 50 states,” Grow Therapy CFO Seth Bressack said in the governor’s announcement. “The talent is here, the clients are here, and now more of the jobs will be too.”
For context on the market, Commercial Observer cited CBRE data putting the average office asking rent in Lower Manhattan at $62.40 per square foot in the third quarter of 2026. We don’t know what Grow is paying, so treat that only as a benchmark.
The Incentive Piece: Excelsior Tax Credits
Empire State Development is supporting the expansion with up to $1.4 million in performance-based Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits. “Performance-based” is the key phrase. According to ESD, companies have to meet and keep job and investment thresholds to earn the credits, which are fully refundable and claimed over a benefit period of up to 10 years.
The program offers several credits, including:
- A jobs credit of up to 6.85% of wages per net new job
- An investment credit of 2% of qualified investments
- A research and development credit tied to the federal R&D credit for work done in New York
- A child care services credit of up to 6% of net new child care spending for programs a company runs or supports for employees
Eligibility depends on industry. ESD lists minimum net-new-job thresholds by sector, starting at five for categories such as software development and scientific research, subject to conditions noted on its site, and much higher for others. Interested companies apply through the relevant ESD regional office or industry director, or through the state’s Consolidated Funding Application.
Grow isn’t alone. The governor’s office pointed to recent ESD-supported expansions in the city by WithCoverage, Clay, PayPal, Bilt, Coinbase, ElevenLabs, Figma, Kraken and Radical AI.
Lessons for Growing Companies Planning Their Next Office
Most New York founders aren’t signing 78,000-square-foot leases. But Grow’s two-step expansion is a useful model for any company that’s hiring fast.
1. Plan for the second move while making the first. Grow went from 19,000 square feet to a space more than four times that size inside about a year. If your hiring plan is aggressive, negotiate expansion rights, sublease flexibility or shorter terms so you aren’t stuck paying for space you’ve outgrown.
2. Talk to the state before you sign. Excelsior credits are tied to commitments in jobs and investment, so the conversation with ESD should happen while you’re still choosing a location and setting a hiring plan, not after the build-out starts.
3. Know what you’re promising. Performance-based incentives come with accountability. If hiring slows, the credits shrink with it. Model the downside as well as the upside.
4. Budget the build-out, not just the rent. Grow plans to spend $15 million fitting out its space. For smaller companies, tenant improvement allowances, prebuilt suites and furniture costs can matter as much as the headline rent.
5. Consider the neighborhood story. The new office brings 123 planned jobs to the Lower East Side, and Bressack noted in the announcement that he’s a longtime resident of the neighborhood. Location shapes recruiting, commutes and how a company shows up in its community.
The Bigger Picture
The deal is one more sign that tech-enabled companies are still choosing to grow in Manhattan. It follows a run of recent leases we’ve covered, from Ramp’s Flatiron expansion to Webull and Octaura’s new offices. For landlords at newer mixed-use developments like Essex Crossing, a fast-growing tenant adding jobs is exactly the kind of deal they want.
For founders, the takeaway is simpler: New York’s office market and its incentive programs both reward companies that plan ahead.