Promontory Financial Group has renewed its lease near Grand Central Terminal at 280 Park Avenue.
The strategy, risk management and regulatory compliance consulting firm will move from its 19,495-square-foot space on the 40th floor of the building to the 11th floor where it will span the entire 49,541-square-foot floor plate. Read More
[Update: This story had been corrected to reflect that Condé Nast is still in the final stages of discussions regarding this lease]
Condé Nast is in final negotiations to sign an 80,000-square-foot lease at 222 Broadway, building on the publishing giant’s footprint in Lower Manhattan as it prepares to move to 1 World Trade Center.
CBRE New York C.E.O. Mary Ann Tighe and Vice Chairman Gregory Tosko represented the tenant. David Berkey represented the landlord, L&L Holdings, in-house. Read More
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
Developers broke ground at 7 Bryant Park yesterday, with a consortium of public officials including Mayor Michael Bloomberg gathering to pitch the trophy office tower as a boon for the city.
Politicians are touting the planned 28-story, 470,000-square-foot steel and glass tower, slated for completion in the first quarter of 2015, as a magnet for good jobs, talent and companies.
“The best days are still to come to Bryant Park – a place the city has worked hard to bring roaring back to life,” Mr. Bloomberg said at the ceremony, adding that the project will bring “more top-tier, cutting-edge commercial space, and more leading companies and their tax revenue to Midtown Manhattan.” Read More
Thursday’s Real Estate Board of New York gala packed an estimated 2,400 guests into the Hilton New York’s overstuffed Grand Ballroom—an increase from last year by about 200. The Commercial Observer walked the room, hobnobbed with brokers and landlords and taste-tested a dinner of steak and potatoes while washing it all down with a few stiff drinks. Staff Reporters Karsten Strauss and Al Barbarino get the inside dish.
If you are a regular reader of Concrete Thoughts, you know that I think networking is extremely valuable for participants in our commercial real estate market.
One of the main benefits of networking is getting to meet people face-to-face and developing relationships that are lasting and lead to business opportunities. One of the best trade organizations through which to network is the Real Estate Board of New York.
This week, REBNY is holding its 117th annual banquet, so I thought it appropriate to recognize the tremendous work that the board does on behalf of our industry. Not only does REBNY provide tremendous networking opportunities, it’s also a leading advocate for our industry. Read More
CBRE tristate Chief Executive Officer Mary Ann Tighe is a legend in New York’s voracious real estate world. Winner of multiple Deal of the Year awards and a 2009 REBNY lifetime achievement award, Ms. Tighe has conquered every peak in her nearly 30 years in the industry, rising to an almost mythic status among the Read More
In July, the Real Estate Board of New York announced that Rob Speyer, 43, president and co-CEO of Tishman Speyer, would succeed Mary Ann Tighe to become its youngest chairman ever. Stepping in this month, he is the third successive generation of his family to hold the post—also a first in the organization’s 117-year history. Though he might have a reputation as being media-shy, Mr. Speyer’s success in real estate is no secret—his company has completed $6 billion in new transactions and raised $4.5 billion of new equity since 2010. Mr. Speyer sat down with The Commercial Observer last week for a rare interview to discuss his new appointment, his agenda for REBNY in 2013, following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps, and the best way forward for New York City as global competition ramps up.
The new year ushered in a shaken-up hierarchy to the Real Estate Board of New York.
Tishman Speyer President Rob Speyer has replaced Mary Ann Tighe as chairman. Mr. Speyer, 43, is the youngest chairman in the board’s 117-year history, and will inherit the position from the first female to ever hold it. Despite his youth, Mr. Speyer has history on his side: he’s the third generation of his family to be named REBNY chair.
Mr. Speyer’s combination of youth and lineage is well-suited to an organization that in 2012 faced fresh, modern challenges whose resolutions required the full weight of the influence REBNY has accrued over the past century. Hurricane Sandy caused unprecedented damage to coastal areas of the city and its transportation system, not to mention the related electric grid failure. And while major storms are nothing new, they seem on course to increase in size and frequency. Read More
Faith Hope Consolo omits names but doesn’t mince words when she describes her visits to Real Estate Board of New York meetings in the late 1980s.
“I once walked into a Stores Committee conference. Back then it was this little club. And some bozo—I won’t say who—said, ‘What are you doing here? Why don’t you try residential real estate?’” said Ms. Consolo, chairman of the retail group at Douglas Elliman.
Rosemary Scanlon, dean of NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate, recalls some incredulous replies when she told people she was an economist. “They’d look at me and—in all seriousness—say ‘Oh, home economics. You must be a good cook,’” said Ms. Scanlon.
Upon hearing that Jennifer Carey, president of the Association of Real Estate Women and JLC Environmental Consultants, had majored in biology in college, “people all assumed I was a nurse,” said Ms. Carey. Read More
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was on hand Tuesday as Related Companies broke ground on the first of what will be a string of buildings in the Hudson Yards development on Manhattan’s midtown west.
Related founder – and Miami Dolphins owner – Stephen Ross, called the project the “most ambitious construction project in the history Read More
Just hours from now, Related Companies will break ground on its new office tower in Hudson Yards, on Manhattan’s west side. The company is planning a 46-story, 1.7 million square foot tower which is expected to cost $1 billion, according to reports.
Luxury leather goods retailer, Coach, has agreed to purchase a total Read More
In August 2011, Matt Van Buren took the reins as CBRE’s tristate president, a position held until then by Mr. Van Buren’s friend and mentor Mitch Rudin. Since then, the brokerage veteran’s responsibilities have expanded to include operations across Long Island, Connecticut, Upstate New York, Northern New Jersey and, of course, the five boroughs of New York City. The Commercial Observer caught up with Mr. Van Buren four months after his one-year anniversary to discuss the goals he has accomplished, what lies ahead for CBRE and his predictions on Manhattan’s most formidable market, Midtown. Read More
Lord Norman Foster this month won the contest to design the first new office tower in almost 50 years on Park Avenue, beating three other finalists for the opportunity to make a mark on the row of 30 Class A buildings in the submarket, which already boasts two of the city’s most famous modernist classics.
L&L Holding Co. late last month chose Foster + Partners’ design for an illuminated 41-story tower at 425 Park Avenue, a few blocks north of the Seagram Building and Lever House, 1950s buildings that helped establish the International Style of glass and steel construction. Foster’s tapered steel-frame tower allows for three gradated tiers of column-free floors, separated by tree-lined terraces where employees will take breaks and exchange ideas, as well as a ground-level public plaza. Read More
The Young & Rubicam Group has expanded their presence at 3 Columbus Circle.
The firm will take an additional 34,634 square feet spanning the entire 11th floor of the building. The lass is co-terminus with its existing lease and will expire in twenty years. Read More
