AKF Group Leaving Midtown for 1 Liberty Plaza [Updated]
By Danielle Schlanger September 15, 2014 3:17 pm
reprints
AKF Group, a consulting engineering firm, is relocating from its office at 1501 Broadway in Times Square to 1 Liberty Plaza in the Financial District.
First reported by The Wall Street Journal, AKF will occupy space on the 22nd and 23rd floors of the 54-story structure owned by Brookfield (BN) Properties. The firm signed a 16-year lease at the end of last week for 57,000 square feet of office space.
JLL’s Mike Shenot, Paul Mas, Ruby Hwang and Roxanne Tehranian brokered the deal for AKF. Duncan McQuaig and Jeremiah Larkin from Brookfield’s leasing team and Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Peter Shimkin, David Falk, Hal Stein and Nick Berger also facilitated the deal.
Mr. Shenot told Commercial Observer that AKF was drawn to its new location because of its accessibility.
“The tenant chose the building because, in our due diligence, the connectivity to transportation to New Jersey, Brooklyn and throughout Manhattan made it central for both their employees and their clients,” he said. “[One Liberty Plaza] gave them access to almost every market throughout the New York metropolitan region.”
Mr. Shenot also noted that AKF’s current space in Times Square, with access to subway lines and the bus terminal, has similar transportation dynamics.
Update: This post has been updated to include all brokers in the deal.
