Two Tenants Ink Deals at 1 Worldwide Plaza [Updated]
By Terence Cullen April 27, 2015 4:10 pm
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New York REIT has leased space to two tenants totaling about 104,000 square feet at its 1 Worldwide Plaza, nearly filling up the office building it bought into a year and a half ago.
Public relations firm Rubenstein Associates, which represents a number of landlords, developers and brokerages, inked a deal for more than 68,000 square feet (two floors worth of office space) in the 26-year-old building between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, New York REIT announced in a news release. David Barton Gym, a high-end fitness club whose motto is “#lookbetternaked,” signed a deal for about 35,000 square feet in the building.
David Barton Gym already has five locations in the city including in Chelsea, the East Village and on the Upper East Side. Rubenstein has been housed less than a mile away at 1345 Avenue of the Americas between West 54th and West 55th Streets for nearly 40 years, and will move into 1 Worldwide Plaza in April 2016, according to the company.
“In the 61 years since I started in this business, I’ve only had four locations – a dining room table at my mother’s house, a cramped sub-lease on Court Street Brooklyn, a tiny office in the Woolworth Building, and for the last 39 years, at 1345 Avenue of the Americas,” said Howard Rubenstein, the founder and co-president of Rubenstein Associates, in prepared remarks. “[Co-President] Steven [Rubenstein] and I are very excited about establishing new space at Worldwide Plaza for the next phase of our growth.”
While asking rents were not available, they’ve been about $70 per square foot in the past, industry experts told Commercial Observer in the past. David Barton Gym and New York REIT did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The leases bring 1 Worldwide Plaza’s occupancy to 98.2 percent, according to the landlord, a seven-point jump since New York REIT took a share of the building. New York REIT, then known as American Realty Capital New York Recovery, in November 2013 bought a 48.9 percent stake for $220 million in the 49-story tower. It entered a partnership at the building with George Comfort & Sons, RCG Longview and DRA Advisors. The deal faced backlash from RXR Realty, which filed a lawsuit against the real estate investment trust and George Comfort & Sons for $200 million—alleging RXR was promised the stake in the tower.
David Goldstein of Savills Studley represented Rubenstein in the transaction, according to Rubenstein, while Matt Coudert of George Comfort & Sons represented the landlords in house. Who represented the gym was not available.
Interest in the building over the last year has been compounded by an October 2014 deal that consolidated CBS TV’s offices to the entire 30th floor, or 32,598 square feet, of 1 Worldwide Plaza in a 12-year lease, as CO reported at the time. M. Shanken Communications, the publisher of specialty publications such as Cigar Aficionado and Wine Spectator, inked an 11-year deal last May for 38,418 square feet across two separate floors in the building.
Update: This story was edited to include brokers in the deal, and a comment for Howard Rubenstein, the founder and co-president of Rubenstein Associates.
