Pomerantz Haudek Grossman & Gross Gets Connected at 600 Third Avenue
By Daniel Edward Rosen April 12, 2012 11:09 am
reprintsSecurities fraud law firm Pomerantz Haudek Grossman & Gross will be doing its investigating from its new Grand Central headquarters.
The firm will be moving from its old offices at 100 Park Avenue to take two floors of contiguous space at 600 Third Avenue, an L&L Holding Company-owned 42-story office tower, The Commercial Observer has learned.
Pomerantz Haudek will be taking the entire 20th floor and a portion of the 21st floor for a total of 14,320 square feet.
Asking rents were $65 a square foot.
Ted Rotante of Colliers International represented the tenant in the lease transaction. Andrew Wiener and David Berkey of L&L Holding Company represented the firm in-house.
The 75-year-old law firm, which represents investors in class action law suits in securities fraud litigation, had been on the 26th and 30th floor of 100 Park Avenue and was starved for contiguous space, said those close to the deal.
Pomerantz Haudek hired Mr. Rotante to help it find space that would be both contiguous and efficient while keeping the firm in the Grand Central area.
Mr. Rotante and Pomerantz Haudek then embarked on an “exhaustive” search, looking at 50 properties in the Midtown, Downtown, Midtown South, and other Manhattan markets.
“We looked at more properties than you could possibly imagine for a tenant this size,” said Mr. Rotante. “We traversed Third Avenue like it was the second coming,” he joked.
Eventually, the firm was drawn to 600 Third Avenue, where the building was able to offer an efficient floor plan while also offering them two floors of contiguous space.
Another key factor behind Pomerantz Haudek’s decision to move to 600 Third Avenue: the four-and-a-half mullion of the windows on both floors, which would allow the firm to populate the space to its maximum potential.
“When you get a 4-and-a-half mullion span, you improve your space and your efficiency,” said Mr. Rotante.
Mr. Berkey was not immediately available for comment.
To make the space even more contiguous, Pomerantz Haudek will add an interconnecting staircase between the 20th and 21st floors. The staircase, and the new offices, is being designed by The Mufson Partnership, the same firm that is currently designing pre-built space for 292 Madison Avenue.
drosen@observer.com