Investment Firm Takes Madison Avenue Space
By Tobias Salinger December 10, 2014 5:45 pm
reprints
Investment management firm Certares will move its headquarters to RFR Realty‘s 350 Madison Avenue in the first quarter of 2015, the landlord announced earlier this week.
The company founded by former JP Morgan Chase executive Michael Gregory O’Hara signed a five-year, 8,559-square-foot lease for part of the 21st floor of the building, RFR officials said. The Midtown East property, which RFR purchased for $261.5 million last year, commands asking rents between $63 to $85 per square foot, according to figures provided by RFR.
“The extensive improvements we’ve undertaken at 350 Madison are yielding results,” said Oliver Katcher, an executive vice president at RFR, in a prepared statement. “We’re excited to welcome Certares to the building.”
Mr. Katcher represented the landlord in-house in the transaction, while no brokers represented the tenant and officials at Certares declined to comment on the transaction.
The RFR officials didn’t disclose Certares’ existing address and an RFR representative said the tenant’s referencing of 350 Madison Avenue as its home address on its website wasn’t yet accurate. The company currently operates from 119 West 40th Street on the northern end of the Garment District, according to the ZoomInfo business database. Certares led a partnership that invested $900 million to grab a 50 percent stake in the global business travel division of the American Express Company in March, a release on the company’s website says.
The financial firm will join fellow new tenants at 350 Madison Avenue such as energy venture capital firm Braemar Energy Ventures and global equity investment company Beacon Light Capital, as Commercial Observer previously reported.
