Bentex Group Gets Growth Spurt at 34 W. 33rd Street
By Daniel Edward Rosen March 29, 2012 9:00 am
reprintsKid’s apparel maker Bentex Group Inc. has reached a deal to renew its lease for 17,000 square feet of space and tack on an additional 6,000 square feet at 34 W. 33rd Street.
The new lease, which was first reported by Crain’s New York, is for 10 years. Asking rent was $39 per square foot.
David Levy and Brett Maslin of Adams & Co. represented Bentex Group and Arcade Building Associates, the landlord of 34. W. 33rd Street, in the deal.
Bentex, which manufactures and distributes children’s apparel, had recently struck a deal and wanted to remain in the whole second floor that it currently occupied, Mr. Levy told Crain’s.
That second floor is nicknamed “Childrenswear Center,” and Bentex will move into the sixth floor in the 12-story pre-war building in the next month. The company has been in the building since 2006.
Bentex will need as much space as it can get to fulfill upcoming orders. The firm struck an apparel deal with Zinkia Entertainment, the group behind the popular Spanish pre-school cartoon “Pocoyo,” to become the “master apparel partner” for the brand in the United States.
In the deal, Bentex will have to make t-shirts, sportswear, sleepwear, swimwear and outerwear with Pocoyo’s likeness on it.
The firm has to work quick: that extensive line of branded apparel is due to hit the US market in the spring of 2013.
“The new apparel line from Bentex will complement our existing and upcoming Pocoyo branded merchandise in the US marketplace from partners including Random House Children’s Books, Bandai America, NCircle Entertainment and TCG,” said Maria Doolan, managing director of brand and business development for Zinkia Entertainment, in a statement released in February.
Bentex was also tapped in 2011 to create t-shirts and tops for the relaunch of popular 1980s cartoon “Voltron.”
drosen@observer.com
