The concept of a "gaming house" usually brings to mind a bunch of teenagers in hoodies eating Doritos in a cramped suburban basement. But FaZe Clan doesn't do "suburban." Back in 2020, at the absolute height of the creator economy gold rush, the organization decided to plant a flag in the middle of Manhattan. They didn't just rent an office. They rented a $30 million skyscraper mansion. It was supposed to be the crown jewel of the New York FaZe House era. Instead, it became a symbol of everything that was about to go wrong for the most famous esports brand in the world.
If you ever walked past 195 Hudson Street in Tribeca, you probably wouldn't have guessed that millions of dollars in brand deals were being negotiated inside. It looked like a fortress.
Honestly, the whole thing felt like a fever dream. You had guys like FaZe Rain, Adapt, and Temperrr moving into a place that was once owned by Jay-Z. We're talking 10,000 square feet of prime real estate. It had a private gym, a massive rooftop deck, and enough high-end industrial design to make a billionaire blush. But while the aesthetics were perfect for TikTok, the reality of running a multi-million dollar business out of a literal glass house was way more complicated than the vlogs let on.
Why FaZe Clan Picked New York Over Los Angeles
Most gaming houses are in LA. It's just the law of the land. You have the weather, the other influencers, and the proximity to every major talent agency. So why did FaZe push for the New York FaZe House?
Basically, they wanted to be "the cool kids" of the East Coast. At the time, FaZe was trying to pivot away from being just a "Call of Duty" team. They wanted to be a lifestyle brand. They wanted to rub shoulders with fashion designers, Wall Street bankers, and the street-wear elite. New York offered a certain "grit" and "prestige" that Hollywood lacks.
Moving into Tribeca was a power move. It said, "We aren't just gamers anymore; we're moguls."
But New York is expensive. Like, soul-crushingly expensive. Reports at the time suggested the monthly rent for the Tribeca mansion was upwards of $80,000. That is a massive burn rate for a company that, as we later found out during their 2022 SPAC merger filings, was hemorrhaging cash. They were spending money like they were already a legacy brand, despite the fact that their revenue was mostly tied to volatile ad rates and merch drops.
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The Layout of the Tribeca Mansion
It wasn't just a house. It was five stories of pure excess.
The main living area featured 12-foot ceilings and massive windows that overlooked the Hudson River. If you watch the old house tours—which were essentially 20-minute flex sessions—you’ll see the industrial kitchen where they rarely cooked. Most of the guys were ordering Postmates three times a day.
- The Gaming Suite: Unlike the old houses where everyone's PC was in their bedroom, the New York spot had a dedicated "content room." This was the heart of the operation. High-speed fiber lines were installed specifically to handle multiple 4K streams simultaneously.
- The Master Suite: Reserved for the OGs. It featured a walk-in closet larger than most people’s apartments and a bathroom that looked like a spa.
- The Rooftop: This was where the "lifestyle" part happened. They threw parties. They shot apparel lookbooks. They looked out over the skyline and convinced themselves the party would never end.
Varying the pace of life in that house was impossible. When you live where you work and work where you live, the lines blur. Adapt once mentioned in a video that the pressure to constantly be "on" for the camera in such a high-stakes environment was exhausting. You can't just be a 20-year-old kid when you're sitting in an $80k-a-month office.
The Turning Point: Why They Left
The New York FaZe House didn't last. By 2021, the rumors started circulating that they were packing up. Fans were confused. Was the lease up? Did they get kicked out?
The truth is more boring but more telling of the industry's health. The house was a logistical nightmare. While it looked great on Instagram, Manhattan is a terrible place to film. You have noise ordinances. You have neighbors—some of whom are incredibly powerful people—who don't appreciate a revolving door of 19-year-olds and camera crews at 3:00 AM.
Beyond that, the East Coast time zone actually sucked for their core business. Most of the gaming industry revolves around Pacific Standard Time. Trying to schedule tournaments, brand calls, and collaborations with West Coast creators meant the New York crew was often working until 4:00 AM just to stay in the loop.
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Then there was the money. As FaZe Clan moved toward going public on the NASDAQ, the "mansion model" started looking like a liability to investors. You can't tell Wall Street you're a serious tech and media company while spending nearly a million dollars a year on a house for people to play video games in. It was a classic "dot-com bubble" move.
Realities of the Creator House Era
Looking back, the New York FaZe House was the peak of the "clout mansion" era. It was the same time the Hype House was dominating TikTok and Team 10 was still a thing. These houses were built on the idea that if you put enough famous people under one roof, the "collab juice" would generate enough views to pay the bills.
It worked. For a while.
But the overhead is staggering. You aren't just paying rent. You're paying for:
- Private security (people eventually found the address, obviously).
- Professional cleaning crews (because, let's be real, it was a frat house).
- Gigabit internet infrastructure.
- Insurance (liability for a house full of "prank" creators is a nightmare).
When the hype started to settle and the economy shifted, the math stopped adding up. FaZe eventually retreated back to a more consolidated presence in Los Angeles, ultimately moving into the "FaZe City" concept—a massive warehouse/studio space that functioned more like a traditional production studio and less like a residence.
What Most People Get Wrong About the NY Move
People think they left because they were broke. That’s a bit of a simplification. At the time they left, they were actually in the middle of their biggest hype cycle. They left because the house served its purpose as a marketing stunt, but failed as a home.
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It's actually kind of sad if you think about it. These guys were living the dream—Jay-Z’s old house!—but they weren't happy. The "New York Era" is often cited by long-time fans as the point where the group started to feel disconnected from their roots. They stopped being the kids in a basement in New York (state) and became "celebrities" in New York (City).
The grit was gone. It was replaced by high-end marble and awkward brand integrations.
Actionable Insights for the Future of Creator Spaces
If you're a creator or an agency thinking about the "house" model today, the New York FaZe House offers some pretty stark lessons. First, location doesn't equal relevance. You can't buy "cool" with a Tribeca zip code if your content isn't evolving.
Second, separating living space from production space is vital for long-term mental health. The creators who survived the 2020-2022 era are the ones who moved into their own places and went to an "office" to work. The "Big Brother" style of living is a recipe for burnout and internal drama.
If you want to track where they are now, look at how the organization has restructured under the leadership of the original founders again. The "glamour" era is over. The "gaming" era is back. They're focusing on smaller, more sustainable content hubs rather than massive, headline-grabbing mansions that eat up the entire marketing budget.
- Audit your overhead: If your workspace costs more than your production, you're in trouble.
- Prioritize logistics over aesthetics: A cool view doesn't make up for a 3-hour time zone lag or bad acoustics.
- Sustainability is the new flex: In 2026, the real power move isn't a $30 million rental; it's a profitable, lean business model that doesn't rely on a venture capital subsidy to pay the light bill.
The Tribeca mansion is now back on the luxury rental market, likely being lived in by a hedge fund manager who has no idea that some of the biggest moments in internet history happened in his living room. It’s just another piece of New York real estate again. For FaZe, it remains a memory of a time when the sky was the limit and the rent was too high.