St. John’s Signs 71,000 SF Deal at 51 Astor Place
By Al Barbarino December 19, 2013 3:02 pm
reprintsAfter pledging on Friday to have 51 Astor Place fully leased by Jan. 30, Edward Minskoff has cut a deal with St. John’s University for a 71,000-square-foot lease across the 12-story building’s first and second floors and part of its concourse level.
The announcement from the university comes on the heels of 1stdibs’ leasing of the 400,000-square-foot building’s 42,232-square-foot third floor in October, a deal inked after months of speculation about pending deals.
“51 Astor Place’s forward-thinking infrastructure allows tenants to have a high-performance platform for employees and clients, and I am confident that St. John’s will flourish in the space,” Mr. Minskoff said in a statement.
The space will replace the university’s 101 Murray Street campus in Tribeca, which it sold for $223 million in July 2013. It will house its School of Risk Management; the Kathryn & Shelby Cullom Davis Library, the world’s largest collection of risk and insurance literature; and The Language Connection, its English language institute.
“This location puts St. John’s in the heart of one of New York City’s most vibrant neighborhoods with unlimited student engagement opportunities and access to a host of potential employers,” said Martha Hirst, the university’s COO, EVP and treasurer, who led its in-house real estate team. Edward J. Minskoff Equities‘ Jeffrey Sussman repped the landlord.
The LEED Gold-rated 51 Astor Place towers above the rest of the neighborhood, where a 24-hour McDonald’s, Ray’s Pizza and an array of small shops and restaurants harbor strong foot traffic that is accentuated by the perpetual buzz of college students.
St. John’s plans to open its doors to students in time for the fall 2014 semester.
