Bank Leumi USA Leases 60,000 Square Feet At Polished Up 579 Fifth Avenue

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Bank Leumi USA signed a 20-year, 60,000-square-foot lease at 579 Fifth Avenue and will fan out across five floors of the 17-story, 150,000-square-foot Midtown building. The American satellite of the Israeli bank currently has a branch at the ground floor storefront. Asking rents were in the $60 per square foot range.

Brian Gell of CBRE (CBRE) represented the tenant. Sam Seiler, Stephen Kenneth Eynon and Edward Goldman–also of CBRE–represented the landlord, Axel Stawski.

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579 Fifth Avenue (Photo courtesy of Stawski Partners)
579 Fifth Avenue (Photo courtesy of Stawski Partners)

In a somewhat unusual move, the firm will settle on the second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh floors of the property. A spokesman for CBRE said that the brokers involved would not comment on the lease, but a source told Crain‘s that since Bank Leumi has separate units it may not have sought the sort of integrated layout on one or two large firms typically favored by financial services companies.

Mr. Stawski recently oversaw substantial renovations to the 59-year-old building on 5th Avenue at 47th Street. Kohn Pederson Fox designed changes to the facade–glass replaced brick–and removed a limestone slab to create an airier glass exterior for the lower floors. The nip and tuck was partly inspired by hopes of luring a fashion tenant to the ground floor retail space once Bank Leumi’s lease there ends in a few years.

Bank Leumi will relocate its offices from the Graybar Building on Lexington Avenue.