Brookfield Inks Anchor Tenant for 1 Manhattan West
By Terence Cullen April 14, 2015 4:39 pm
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Brookfield (BN) Property Partners has signed an anchor tenant to its 2.1-million-square-foot office tower, 1 Manhattan West, the developer announced today.
Law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has signed a 20-year lease for 550,000 square feet in the building, at the corner of West 33rd Street and Ninth Avenue, which is part of Brookfield’s Manhattan West development. Skadden will take up the 28th to 43rd floors of the 67-story tower, according to Brookfield. The firm’s current office is at 4 Times Square.
“We look forward to moving to a state-of-the-art building at Manhattan West, and to being part of New York City’s most dynamic new neighborhood,” said Eric J. Friedman, the executive partner at Skadden, in prepared remarks.
A concrete start date for construction has not been set, a Brookfield spokeswoman said, but prep work has begun at the site.
“Vertical construction of the tower will begin imminently,” another spokeswoman said.
Peter Riguardi, Kenneth Siegel and Matthew Astrachan of JLL represented the law firm in the deal. Jerry Larkin, Duncan McCuaig and David McBride represented Brookfield in-house, along with Bruce Mosler, Josh Kuriloff, Mikael Nahmias and Ethan Silverstein of Cushman & Wakefield.
“This is an exciting time, to be building an entirely new neighborhood anchored by class A office towers that will redefine the west midtown skyline,” said Dennis Friedrich, the chief executive officer of Brookfield’s office division, in prepared remarks. “When this building opens in 2019 it will be home to Skadden and other exceptional companies from New York and around the world, and Manhattan West will have established itself as a dynamic, vibrant mixed-use community.”
The developer has secured $1.25 billion in construction loans from Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch, The Bank of New York Mellon and TD Bank for the $2.1 billion office tower. Brookfield is investing the remaining $850 million.
Brookfield is redeveloping portions of the Far West Side in a $4.5 billion project that includes 1 Manhattan West. Other projects include a facelift of 450 West 33rd Street, or 5 Manhattan West, and a 844-unit residential tower at 435 West 31st Street between Ninth and Dyer Avenues, which began construction in January. Brookfield is also rumored to be in talks to buy 434 West 33rd Street, also in the Hudson Yards area, as Crain’s New York Business reported last month.
