Sportswear Label Under Armour Headed to Surging Starrett-Lehigh Building
By Billy Gray June 20, 2013 8:00 am
reprintsUnder Armour, maker of form-fitting sportswear, will squeeze into a new space after inking a 19,000-square-foot deal in the Starrett-Lehigh Building at 601 West 26th Street, an address primed to profit from the sizzling Midtown South market and massive Hudson Yards development.
The 10-year lease will bring the tenant to part of the 15th floor of the 20-story building occupying the entire block between 26th and 27th Streets and 11th and 12th Avenues. It’s Under Armour’s first NYC space.
Jason Greenstein and David Falk of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the tenant. The landlord, RXR Realty, was represented in-house. Asking rent was in the $60s per square foot.
RXR paid $900 million in 2011 for the monolithic building. While even the western fringes of Chelsea were booming at the time, the Starrett-Lehigh Building has further benefited from Midtown South’s popularity among young, creative tenants and the transformative power of Hudson Yards, under construction a few blocks to the north.
Crain’s reports that the landlord is investing in “tens of millions of dollars” worth of improvements to the 82-year-old behemoth. Current tenants include the ad agency McGarryBowen and the fashion companies Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss, drawn to the property in part because of its proximity to the Garment District. Under Armour reportedly considered locations in the old garmento stomping grounds and right by Penn Station before quickly opting for Starrett-Lehigh.
Representatives from NGKF and RXR could not immediately be reached for comment.
