By Al Barbarino 4/11 4:23pm

Lease Beat

Hudson3_ss

SAP Inks 115,000 SF Lease at Hudson Yards

SAP has inked a lease for 115,000 square feet of space at the South Tower of Hudson Yards, the developers of the 15-million-square-foot project on the far west side of Manhattan announced yesterday.

The announcement came along with news that L’Oréal leased 402,000 square feet for their U.S. corporate headquarters at the building, bringing the LEED Gold South Tower to more than 80 percent occupancy. Sources said the deals are for 15 years.

The companies join Coach, which agreed to pay a reported $750 million for its 740,000-square-foot global corporate headquarters in the tower in late 2011, after what Related’s president on the project, Jay Cross, called a three-year negation process.

“We are thrilled that global beauty and software powerhouses L’Oréal and SAP, along with Coach, Inc., will be locating at Hudson Yards,” said Stephen Ross, Related Companies’ Chairman, in a prepared statement.  “With construction already underway, we look forward to continuing to implement our ambitious vision for the defining development of the 21st Century and the new heart of New York.” Read More

By Al Barbarino 3/12 7:30am

Lease Beat

All Digital's offerings include Smosh, hosted by Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla

Growing Digital Firm Alloy Digital Relocates to 498 Seventh Avenue

Alloy Digital has signed a six-year, 29,416-square-foot sublease with Liquidnet Holdings Inc. at 498 Seventh Avenue in Times Square South, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The expanding digital media firm will occupy the entire 19th floor in the 880,000-square-foot, Class A building owned by George Comfort & Sons Inc. and located between West 36th and West 37th streets.  The firm is relocating from 151 West 26th Street in West Chelsea.

“Alloy Digital is one the many tech firms that have relocated to the submarket from Chelsea Market, and other areas of the city,” said Jones Lang LaSalle’s Alexander Chudnoff, who represented Alloy Digital with Dan Turkewitz. Read More

By Al Barbarino 2/28 7:30am

Lease Beat

55 Water Street

55 Water Street Lands Liberty Mutual Renewal and Expansion

Liberty Mutual has signed a 10-year, 120,000-square-foot lease at 55 Water Street, a success story to emerge amid a massive renovation project launched in response to a string of misfortunes brought by Hurricane Sandy.

The insurance company doubles its space in the building with the deal, moving from the 18th floor to the 22nd and 23rd floors.

“It’s great news for the landlord and it’s great news for Downtown,” said CBRE’s Brad Gerla, who represented the landlord with Mary Ann Tighe, Howard Fiddle and Evan Haskel.

New Water Street Corp. is putting $200 million into the building after it took on some 32 million gallons of water during the storm.  The project includes the transport of key electrical, mechanical and communications equipment to the 3rd floor and storm-proofing to protect against future disasters.

“This landlord went over and above to secure the building and to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again,” Mr. Gerla said. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 2/20 7:45am

Lease Beat

Nicholas Koenig - Frontal Facade

KLS Diversified Signs Lease at 452 Fifth Avenue

KLS Diversified, a fixed income asset management firm, has signed a lease for the 22nd floor of 452 Fifth Avenue.

The 10-year lease is for approximately 16,500 square feet, said Ehud Elizur, president of PBC USA Real Estate LLC, the building’s landlord. The deal was first reported yesterday by the New York Post.

Mr. Elizur declined to disclose financial terms of the deal citing confidentiality but did say asking rents on similar floors were in the mid-80s per square foot. The lease was signed February 1, 2013, Mr. Elizur said. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 8/14/12 10:51am

Lease Beat

685 Third Avenue (photo courtesy of CoStar)

Salesforce.com Swaps Grand Central Spaces, Takes New Office at 685 Third Avenue

Salesforce.com has inked a 10-year lease for 74,349 square feet at 685 Third Avenue, the TIAA-CREF-owned office building in the Grand Central area.

The tech company, which offers cloud-computing services, will be taking a much larger office than the 16,350 square foot office space it currently has at 2 Grand Central, which it will be vacating in favor of 685 Third Avenue.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Gus Field represented Salesforce.com in the deal.  Read More

By Michael Ewing 7/30/12 7:00am

Lease Beat

14wall

Amerigroup Forms Headquarters at 14 Wall Street

Amerigroup will consolidate their offices across the city into a new 165,000 square foot headquarters at 14 Wall Street.

The move comes after a recent acquisition of one of the largest Medicaid managed care companies in New York, Health Plus, and the desire to consolidate their multiple offices.

Amerigroup currently occupies a 50,000 square foot Read More

By Carl Gaines 5/01/12 1:43pm

Power Broker

Brad Gerla.

Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick

As leasing agent for some of Manhattan’s most iconic buildings, CBRE executive vice president Brad Gerla has access to some impressive real estate—like J.P. Morgan’s former pied-à-terre on the 31st floor of 14 Wall Street or the neo-Gothic inner workings of the Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway.

So it was strange to chat with him one recent rainy morning in a nondescript conference room in an equally nondescript–dare we say blah–office, save for the fact that the conference room was nestled inside the former MetLife headquarters at 11 Madison Avenue. Read More

By Daniel Geiger 4/03/12 5:57pm

Lease Beat

225 Park Avenue South

L’Oreal Nearing Midtown South Mega-Deal

Rumors are swirling that L’Oreal, the cosmetics giant, is considering a roughly 500,000-square-foot-lease in Midtown South in what would be the latest blockbuster deal in the city’s hottest market.

L’Oreal is said to be looking at a large block of space being vacated by The Port Authority at 225 and 233 Park avenues, two adjacent buildings that have separate lobbies but interconnect internally. The buildings are owned by Orda Management and a leasing team from the real estate services firm CBRE led by Howard Fiddle handles dealmaking at the properties. Read More

By William Alden 8/02/10 7:42pm

Commercial Breaks

CBRE Tapped to Move Prime Floors at 452 Fifth

Starting next spring, the tower floors of 452 Fifth Avenue will be available for lease, The Observer has learned. The space, spanning the 12th to the 30th floors, and totaling 300,000 square feet, will likely be one of the most-sought-after office plots in midtown.

CB Richard Ellis is representing IDB Group subsidiaries Property and Building Read More