Hedge Fund Becomes Tower 46’s First Tenant
By Terence Cullen October 20, 2015 12:45 pm
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SL Green Realty Corp. has signed its first tenant to Tower 46—the building within a building it owns at Extell Development Company’s International Gem Tower.
Hedge fund Fir Tree has inked a 10-year deal for 31,000 square feet at 55 West 46th Street, according to the landlord. The firm, which manages $12 billion in capital, will take up part of the 28th floor and the whole 29th floor of the 34-story tower between Avenue of the Americas and Fifth Avenue.
The asking rent in the deal was about $100 per square foot, according to The New York Post, which first reported news of the deal.
Fir Tree will be doing buildout of the space. It wasn’t immediately clear when the hedge fun is moving in.
“We are pleased to welcome one of the financial world’s most prestigious firms to Tower 46,” said Steven Durels, SL Green (SLG)’s head of leasing and real property, in prepared remarks. “The building is ideally suited for businesses needing a state-of-the-art work environment.”
A CBRE (CBRE) team of Peter Turchin, Scott Bogetti, James Ackerman and Christie Harle represented the landlord, while Gregg Lorberbaum and Eti Hamlet of Centric Real Estate Advisors represented the tenant. Mr. Lorberbaum did not immediately return a request for comment.
SL Green and Prudential Real Estate Investors bought the top 13 floors—considered a single office condominium—from Extell last year for $295 million. The landlord borrowed $190 million from Wells Fargo to finance the Diamond District buy, as CO previously reported. Along with the 13-floor condo, the sales package included additional office space on the second floor, a fitness center, a parking garage and a retail component on West 46th Street.
Mr. Turchin told Commercial Observer that Fir Tree was drawn to the new building, which finished construction in 2013, because its proximity to Grand Central Terminal, as well as the tenant-only gym and parking garage. Financial firms are the type of tenant the landlord is looking to fill the space it owns in the tower, he added.
“It’s the closest new construction to Grand Central today,” Mr. Turchin said. “[The deal is] a great sign for the building in terms of the type of tenant. It’s a financial service firm, which I think is important because they are moving toward new construction.”
Extell has sold off several office condominiums on lower floors as well, mostly to diamond or gem companies. That includes the Gemological Institute of America’s $13 million purchase of a ninth-floor office condo this June. The sale was an expansion for the gem-studying institute, which is also on the fourth and eighth floors of the building, which also has an address of 50 West 47th Street.
