Look! Up in the Air! Marvel Has a 60K-Foot Sublease!

Marvel Entertainment will leap tall buildings to help fill a big slice of 135 West 50th Street. The comic-book king will lease 60,000 square feet for nine years in the Sports Illustrated Building.

Marvel, which was acquired by Disney in December, will be able to consolidate its headquarters onto a single floor in midtown. It will sublease from investment firm Alliance Bernstein, which has been trying to shed space totaling nearly 31 percent of the 800,000-square-foot building.

“Marvel Entertainment’s current lease at 417 Fifth Avenue was expiring within the year and this was a great opportunity to house its headquarter offices on one floor,” said Robert Silver of Newmark Knight Frank, who represented the tenant. Robert Alexander and Christopher Mansfield of CB Richard Ellis represented Alliance Bernstein.

“The space is in complete move-in condition and Marvel will take occupancy Oct. 1,” Mr. Silver said. Asking rents in the building are around $54 per square foot, according to MrOfficeSpace.com.

Earlier this month the Wolfson Group paid $56 million for a 43 percent interest in the midtown spot, The Real Deal reported. The majority owner is UBS Partners.