Little Pink Hardhats: PBC’s Alicia Popper Repositioned HSBC’s Headquarters

PBC USA hired Ms. Popper away from Savitt Partners in January 2011, when she was tasked with oversee the repositioning and leasing campaign for 452 Fifth Avenue.

HSBC was still the primary tenant in the tower. The bank moved out of floors 12-30 in May 2011 and re-stacked into the base of the building, leaving PBC USA Real Estate with 18 vacant floors. “We first had to do demolition and start leasing,” Ms. Popper said.
One of her first moves in her position was having one floor demolished to showcase the space and the views.
Ms. Popper had the space whiteboxed—in other words, the steel beams and the deck were sprayed white, and a new cement floor was installed.

Doing so emphasized the floor’s views, as was the case with the 22nd floor in the building (which is currently available).
“We see floor-to-ceiling glass facing north. There are no perimeter radiator units. All heat and air is ducted in from above,” she said.
As a nice touch, the space features the distinctly green round tables and chairs from Bryant Park, a gift from the Bryant Park business improvement district (which PBC USA is involved with).

“In six months, we leased, the team leased, 240,000 square feet of office and retail space at record rents,” Ms. Popper said.

Among those new tenants moving into 452 Fifth Avenue are law firm Baker & McKenzie (105,803 square feet), Russian investment bank VTB Capital (16,428 square feet) and the masculinely named investment firm The Man Group (49,000 square feet). The fastest deal they closed was VTB Capital, which was closed out in eight weeks; the space was built out in seven weeks.
In addition to its views, the draw of 452 Fifth Avenue is what every Bryant Park area building has: proximity to Grand Central.
“This is the commute of heaven,” Ms. Popper said. “I call this an adult location … if you want to be in a neighborhood with flair, this is the neighborhood, and you’re still in Midtown.”

This is not Ms. Popper’s first time repositioning a property. During her days at Murray Hill Properties, among other firms she has worked for, she specialized in repositioning such buildings as 1412 Broadway and 1450 Broadway, incorporating tech companies into a predominantly garment tenant roster.

Long before repositions and pink hardhats came into the picture, the John Dewey High School graduate was an engineering major at SUNY-Stony Brook. A brief stint working as a national accounts manager at Standard Motor Products gave way to real estate, where she worked stints at Sylvan Lawrence Company and at Newmark & Company. At Newmark she worked for the leasing team for 111 and 115 Broadway and for 29 John Street, representing owner McDonnell Douglas Finance Corporation. She also represented such tenants as Neiman Marcus Group and ING Realty Partners during her stint at Murray Hill Properties.
“I’ve been prosecutor and defense attorney. I’ve worked both sides,” she said. “I’ve worked Midtown, I’ve worked Midtown West, and I have worked Downtown in the Financial district.”

Ms. Popper was raised in Marine Park, a part of Brooklyn that was both scenic and tough. She lives now in New Rochelle—“like Brooklyn North, but with lots of green grass and many trees”—with two daughters, both of whom are currently away at sleepaway camp.

The fact she and her daughters are still alive and well is not lost on Ms. Popper.

“We should have all been dead,” she said.