TF Cornerstone Plans High End Makeover of 387 PAS

The work will remake the property into a upper tier building in the neighborhood, which is part of the greater Midtown South area but located in a northern portion of the district on 28th Street that is home to few top quality office properties.

“You have really cool residential buildings and hotels in the area, I think what the neighborhood needs is an office building with the cool factor that fits in with what is going on there,” Matthew Leon, a leasing executive at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank who is representing the property, told The Commercial Observer.

Mr. Leon, who works as a leasing agent for TF Cornerstone on several of the company’s office buildings, will partner with David Falk, president of Newmark’s New York area operations, in the effort to market the building to prospective users.

About 175,000 square feet is available at 387 Park Avenue South but the whole 215,000-square-foot building could be made available if a large tenant descends on the property, Mr. Leon and Mr. Falk said. TF Cornerstone, which bases its own operations out of the building, would have to relocate in that case, a move it is willing to make to accommodate demand.

While the work upstairs is being done to add coveted amenities such as outdoor space and meeting facilities to augment the top end rents the building can achieve, the glass-cladding on the lower floors will likely improve the value of space in the base that would otherwise likely lease at a discount.

“We want to make you feel like you could fall out onto the street,” Mr. Falk said of the lower floors, saying that the glass was a strategy he had successfully employed at other buildings he has worked on. “When you create views and exposure to light like that in the base, suddenly that space becomes a lot more valuable.”

TF Cornerstone plans to ask for premium rents at the property, in the high $60s per square foot. The building is one of a number of properties in the area that have sought big rents after undergoing significant improvements. 200 Fifth Avenue led the charge after its owner L&L Holding Company overhauled it and asked for – and received – rates in the $80s per square foot and beyond. Tenants in Midtown South have been willing to shell out the cash in order to be in the neighborhood, the hottest office market in the city.

The surge of interest in the market has prompted landlords to make the improvements that will allow their buildings to cash in on the demand.

Last week, the owner of 130 Fifth Avenue, another Midtown South office property, told The CO it would renovate that building in order to create space that can command premium rates.