Syracuse University Barrels into Midtown South with 20,000 SF Lease
By Al Barbarino February 13, 2013 7:45 am
reprintsAs the city braces for its next snowstorm, Syracuse University is barreling from snow-coated Syracuse, New York towards Midtown South, where it will stomp a 20,000-square-foot footprint at 136 Madison Avenue.
The university plans to use the second floor of the 17-story, 150,000-square foot art deco building as a hub for academic programs and internship opportunities that will compliment alumni activities already housed at its Lubin House on East 61st Street, said a source familiar with the deal.
The Lubin House serves as the university’s regional admissions office, a gathering place for visiting faculty and alumni, and home to discussion panels, an art gallery and a division of its drama school.
The university plans to occupy the Madison Avenue space in September, in time for the beginning of the fall 2013 semester, according to an announcement from Colliers (CIGI), which represented the owner.
“This was a wonderful opportunity to have one of the country’s leading university’s premier programs occupy full-floor space in 136 Madison Avenue,” said Andrew Roos of Colliers, who represented the owner with the firm’s Tri-State President Michael Cohen, in a statement announcing the deal. “This was a very collaborative effort between the parties to craft a transaction that works operationally for all involved.”
The firm did not respond to calls seeking additional comment on the terms of the lease and plans for the space.
The main lobby features three multi-tiered chandeliers hanging from the coffered ceiling in addition to a secondary lobby on 31st Street and a covered loading dock on 32nd Street; and the ownership group’s willingness to create a secondary entrance on East 31st Street was one perk of the deal, according to the statement.
Syracuse University was represented by Newmark (NMRK) Grubb Knight Frank’s President James Kuhn, a university alumni who is chairman of the school’s Facilities Committee of the Board of Trustees and its Whitman School of Management Advisory Council. Mr. Kuhn declined comment.
