Thor Lures Personal Finance Company From Third Avenue
By Terence Cullen October 25, 2016 5:15 pm
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Thor Equities has leased out a full floor of its 597 Fifth Avenue to a personal finance firm, Commercial Observer has learned.
ValuePenguin will occupy the whole fifth floor, or 6,370 square feet, of the 81,000-square-foot building between East 48th and East 49th Streets, according to a press release from Thor.
The company signed a 10-year deal at the property, also known as the Charles Scribner’s Sons Building, and is moving from a smaller space at 600 Third Avenue, according to Thor.
Asking rent was in the deal was $65 per square foot, a source familiar with the deal said.
Douglas Elliman’s Anita Grossberg represented ValuePenguin, while Thor’s Adam Rappaport represented the landlord in-house with Christel Engel and Robert Gallucci of Colliers (CIGI) International. Grossberg did not immediately return a request for comment.
“The quality of the existing building meant that we wouldn’t be required to do significant imagining on our own about what to do with the office,” Jonathan Wu, the chief executive officer of ValuePenguin, said in an email. “Instead we could simply extend what was already there and focus on our business.”
Thor seems to be leasing out full floors of the 1913 building, originally built to house Scribner’s Bookstore. In April 2015, CO reported that Bateleur Capital signed a deal for the whole 6,364-square-foot ninth floor, and GCT Constructors inked a lease for the entire 6,364-square-foot fourth level.
“597 Fifth Avenue is ideally situated on Fifth Avenue between Bryant Park and Central Park, with Grand Central Terminal, [Pennsylvania] Station and the Port Authority Bus Terminal all in close proximity,” Melissa Gliatta, Thor’s chief operating officer, said in prepared remarks.
