Hillary Clinton may not officially have a campaign yet, but she does have a campaign office.
Clinton’s nascent campaign signed a lease for two floors of office space at 1 Pierrepont Plaza in Brooklyn Heights, a person familiar with the lease told CNN.
Clinton and her team coalesced around Brooklyn last month, according to multiple sources, after considering headquartering the campaign in other New York City neighborhoods. Last month, the team was in “serious negotiations” for office space at the MetroTech complex in Downtown Brooklyn, according to the same sources, but a lease was not signed.
The now set Brooklyn Heights office, which was first reported by Politico, puts Clinton just across the river from Manhattan and near a focal point for Brooklyn transportation. The building — which bills itself as “Modern Offices. Brooklyn Cool” — also houses offices for Morgan Stanley and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Clinton supporters see a number of benefits in Brooklyn, including ease of attracting talent to the New York area and the fact that it’s known for ethnic and socio-economic diversity.
On the downside, some Clinton supporters have expressed concern with being closely associated with New York City, and in particular Wall Street, which is only a few subway stops away.
Although Clinton’s presidential campaign is expected to launch in the coming weeks, a few dozen Democratic operatives who will make up the core of Clinton’s team have already begun “volunteering” — with no pay — for the former secretary of state.
Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign-manager-in-waiting, began assembling a campaign apparatus earlier this year and a number of political operatives moved to New York in March to be in place for the campaign-in-waiting.
Clinton has long had a Midtown Manhattan office that housed her personal staff of 10-15 people. That office is currently jam packed, however, with the future campaign staffers that will fill offices and desks in Brooklyn.
Because Clinton is not a declared candidate, Clinton aides would not detail what entity signed the office lease.