Avon Agrees to Head Downtown to Brookfield’s One Liberty Plaza
By Terence Cullen February 16, 2017 2:16 pm
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New Avon has con-sealed a lease at One Liberty Plaza as part of an agreement with the State of New York.
The cosmetics behemoth has pledged to stay in New York City, moving its offices to the Brookfield Property Partners-owned, full-block building on Liberty Street between Broadway and Church Street, according to separate press releases from the company and the state. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. A spokesman for Brookfield did not immediately comment.
Avon will move about 400 employees to 91,000 square feet across two floors, according to the information in the announcement. The company has also pledged to create 53 new jobs over the next decade.
“As we work to build the best social selling experience for Avon representatives and consumers, it was important for us to find an emerging and high-energy location to inspire our innovative, entrepreneurial culture,” Scott White, the chief executive officer of Avon, said in prepared remarks.
In return, Empire State Development Corporation, the state’s economic wing, announced it has agreed to give Avon $4 million in performance-based tax credits over the next decade, as well as $600,000 for capital improvements to its new office space. Avon has agreed to invest $9.5 million toward building out its new offices, which will cover two undisclosed floors at the 54-story tower.
“As the state’s business climate continues to improve, we are seeing more and more major companies, like Avon, choosing to relocate or expand their headquarters in New York State,” Howard Zemsky, the state’s development czar, said in a statement. “This company has a long, successful legacy operating in New York and we look forward to the new jobs and economic opportunity generated by their continued growth in the Empire State.”
David Falk, Eric Cagner and Jason Greenstein of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the tenant. Avon will be downsizing in the move to Lower Manhattan. Currently it leases 246,500 square feet at 777 Third Avenue between East 48th and East 49th Streets, according to CoStar Group. That lease currently runs into 2025.
