McGraw Hill Renews 900K-SF HQ in FiDi
By Liam La Guerre March 23, 2016 2:02 pm
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Financial information and analytics company McGraw Hill Financial has signed a 900,027-square-foot early renewal for its headquarters at 55 Water Street.
The company will continue to occupy the entire 34th through 46th floors, a portion of the concourse and the 52nd floor, according to CBRE, which handled the deal for McGraw Hill and landlord New Water Street Corp., owned by pension fund the Retirement Systems of Alabama.
“This agreement is just another example of how Lower Manhattan’s continued resurgence has made it a highly attractive place for many of New York City’s greatest companies, and how well-positioned buildings like 55 Water Street have benefited from this resurgence,” CBRE’s Howard Fiddle, who worked on the landlord side of the deal, said in a news release. Mr. Fiddle worked alongside CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe, Dave Caperna, Brad Gerla and Evan Haskell.
The asking rent in the deal was $60 per square foot, a CBRE spokeswoman confirmed, declining to cite the length of the lease.
McGraw Hill, which is the parent company of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, has been a tenant in the building for more than 20 years, while its headquarters were at 1221 Avenue of the Americas. The firm relocated the employees from its namesake Avenue of the Americas building last year, as The Wall Street Journal reported.
The renewal deal has been in the works since at least last October although their existing lease doesn’t expire until 2020, according to Crain’s New York Business.
New Water Street Corp. has spent more than $100 million to upgrade 55 Water Street after enduring damages from Superstorm Sandy. The revitalization includes renovating the building’s lobby, relocating various equipment above grade, adding a café and installing a flood barrier system that covers the perimeter of the property.
CBRE’s Cara Chayet, Michael Liss, Ken Meyerson, Paul Myers and Ramneek Rikhy handled the renewal transaction for McGraw Hill.
“We will use this opportunity to upgrade our floors into cohesive, state-of-the-art work environments that encourage collaboration and include upgraded Wi-Fi, telecommunications and electrical systems,” Mitra Meshgin-Poosh, a senior vice president at McGraw Hill, said in a prepared statement.
Other tenants at 55 Water Street, which is the largest office building in the city at 3.6 million square feet, include Hugo Boss, EmblemHealth and Liberty Mutual.
