Investment Firms Renew at 666 Fifth Avenue
By Terence Cullen December 11, 2015 12:00 pm
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Two investment firms have signed renewals at Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) and Kushner Companies’ 666 Fifth Avenue in Midtown for a combined 24,700 square feet.
Amici Capital Management, an investment advisement firm, inked a 13,422-square-foot deal at the 1.5-million-square-foot building between West 52nd and West 53rd Streets, according to a CBRE (CBRE) press release. The firm, which was originally founded in 1976, is located on part of the 34th floor.
Also on the 34th floor of the 41-story office tower, Atlantic Investment Management signed a lease to stay in its 11,330 square feet of the building, per CBRE. The company bills itself as a “$1.5 billion alternative equity investment firm,” on its website.
David Hollander and Sam Seiler of CBRE represented the tenants in both deals, while the landlord was represented in-house by Vornado’s Josh Glick and Jared Solomon. Vornado did not immediately return a request for comment via a spokesman.
Asking rent in the deals was not immediately available. Each renewal was for three and a half years, according to the CBRE brokers.
Kushner paid $1.7 billion for the building in 2007, making it the largest single-property transaction at the time (Jared Kushner, the company’s chief executive officer, owns Observer Media, which publishes Commercial Observer).
Vornado came in as a partner for the building’s office portion in 2011, paying a reported $80 million in cash. The following year, the real estate investment trust bought the 114,000-square-foot retail condominium for $707 million. The retail tenants include Hollister and Uniqlo, which in 2010 inked a 15-year lease to pay $300 million over the term that was a record at the time.
The landlords are considering converting the building into a combined hotel and residential tower on top of the existing retail condo, as The New York Post reported in September. Architect Zaha Hadid has been signed on to mull over changes to the 58-year-old building.
“We were happy to work with Vornado to complete a [three-and-a-half]-year extension which worked out to the benefit of both parties considering the potential redevelopment of the building,” Mr. Hollander said via a spokeswoman.
Phillips Nizer, an 89-year-old law firm specializing in national and international legal matters, recently renewed its lease for two years, as CO reported last month. The firm will stay in 49,846 square feet on the entire 28th and 29th floors. Asking rent in that renewal was in the mid-$60s per square foot.
