Welocalize Inks 8,500 SF Deal in Garment District, Where Old Blends with New
By Al Barbarino June 21, 2013 11:54 am
reprintsLanguage localization services firm Welocalize has signed an 8,500-square-foot long-term lease for the entire 8th floor at 15 West 37th Street in the Garment District, The Commercial Observer has learned.
Landlord Kamber Management has implemented a series of infrastructure upgrades in the building that have attracted the influx of creative tenants into the neighborhood while retaining its traditional garment-oriented tenants.
“What has happened is that the garment industry, while still vibrant, doesn’t need as much space,” said Steve Levy, who represented Kamber Management in house. “Like many others, we have benefited from the explosion of the creative industries in the neighborhood. We have implemented a series of upgrades over the last 18 months. We also have nice, smaller floors that suit the creative tenants very well.”
The state-of-the-art upgrades to the roughly 138,000-square-foot building, built in the early 1920’s, include new boilers, new air conditioner systems on some floors, and modernized building management systems that computerize the a/c and HVAC controls – commonplace in newer buildings but much less prevalent among the neighborhoods older building stock.
“It’s tougher for older buildings because they don’t have the infrastructure – now we’ve installed that infrastructure,” Mr. Levy said.
Welocalize is a multinational company based in Frederick, Maryland that provides language localization services, or the translation of products into different languages. Founded in 1997, the privately-held, venture-backed company stands more in line with the new wave of tenants taking space in the Garment District, but joins an array of garment, accessory and jewelry tenants in the building.
Kamber Management is in the process of building out the space for the tenant, which will feature ample open space, full mechanicals and glass walls and doors that allow for ample natural light to flow through.
Joel Weinberg and Nick Bates of DTZ represented the tenant. The brokers could not be reached for immediate comment.
