CVS Takes 12K SF at RFR Building on East 47th Street
By Lauren Elkies Schram November 18, 2014 11:08 am
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Pharmacy chain CVS Health has signed a lease for more than 12,000 square feet at RFR Realty‘s 757 Third Avenue between East 47th and East 48th Streets, Commercial Observer has learned.
The retailer took 12,204 square feet on the ground-floor corner and basement of the building. The space was previously occupied by Wells Fargo Bank and RCN, RFR said. The new CVS lease required both a temporary and permanent relocation of RCN, which will temporarily move to RFR’s 275 Madison Avenue until its permanent location is ready for occupancy.
The asking rent at 757 Third Avenue was $250 per square foot, according to Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Jason Pruger, who represented CVS in the deal. The new lease is for 15 years with options and the store should be open in the late first quarter of next year, he noted.
“We like [this] Third Avenue [site] as it borders Kips Bay and Midtown,” Mr. Pruger said.
Jeffrey Roseman, also of NGKF, represented RFR along with Jordan Claffey, RFR’s head of retail leasing.
“The major interior and exterior capital improvements completed at the building have made it very attractive to office and retail tenants,” Mr. Claffey said in prepared remarks.
Woonsocket, R.I.-headquartered CVS has 7,800 retail pharmacies and more than 900 walk-in medical clinics, according to its website.
RFR, which acquired 757 Third Avenue in 1999, began capital improvements of the 500,000-square-foot building in 2012. Upgrades included the addition of a new lobby with a rotating art program, elevator cab improvements and new common corridors. The landlord also refinished the building’s façade, installed new retail store fronts and upgraded the building systems.
Within the past 24 months, RFR has completed new leases and renewals for nearly 400,000 of the building’s 500,000 square feet, the firm boasted. Earlier this year, Berkley Insurance Company expanded its presence at 757 Third Avenue by 5,080 square feet, bringing its space to a total of 42,533 square feet on the 10th and 11th floors of the building, as CO previously reported.
