Nonprofit Investor Signs Garment District Lease
By Tobias Salinger September 2, 2014 11:46 am
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Nonprofit seed investor Echoing Green will move its headquarters one block east under a 10-year, 9,750-square-foot lease for the 13th floor of S.I.K. Associates‘ building under the Kaufman Organization‘s portfolio at 462 Seventh Avenue between West 35th and 36th Streets in the Garment District, the Wall Street Journal reported this morning.
The socially-conscious firm will move from its current home at 494 Eighth Avenue to the 23-story structure with a renovated lobby and Hale and Hearty Soups and Starbucks on the ground floor, a 185,000-square-foot building where office asking rents run in the high $40s per square foot, said Steve Kaufman, president of the Kaufman Organization.
“The full-floor space at 462 Seventh Avenue provides Echoing Green with the flexibility to accommodate the firm’s anticipated growth in the coming years,” said Mr. Kaufman in a prepared statement. “The building’s central location gives the non-profit the platform to reach a wider audience due to a number of mass transportation hubs in the area. Echoing Green’s move to the tower is a reflection of the landlord’s ongoing commitment to upgrade 462 Seventh Avenue. The organization will move in to an expansive new office space that features conference rooms and workstations.”
Mr. Kaufman and Barbara Raskob, the director of leasing at Kaufman Organization, represented the landlord in the transaction. Amy Lawrence of Denham Wolf Real Estate Services negotiated on behalf of the tenant.
“It was important for us to find Echoing Green space in a location and building that would enable the organization to grow with confidence,” Ms. Lawrence said in a prepared statement. “Midtown West’s affordable and accessible location is attractive as they continue to foster the next generation of social entrepreneurs and innovative non-profit organizations. In the Kaufman Organization we saw a landlord with a solid reputation and the understanding of the client’s business model and need for flexibility to accommodate its rapid growth.”
The investment firm that was founded in 1987 by equity firm General Atlantic has provided more than $36 million in backing for nonprofits like Teach for America, City Year and the Global Fund for Children, as well as 90 entrepreneurs per year worldwide, according to the Kaufman Organization’s release.
