Israel Startup Company Takes Temporary Space in Chelsea Before Permanent Move
By Terence Cullen February 9, 2017 2:32 pm
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SOSA, an Israel-based startup networking company and coworking space, has signed a temporary lease in Chelsea until it moves into bigger digs nearby, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The firm, which links innovation companies with investors, has taken about 6,600 square feet at 50 West 17th Street, the Journal reported. It wasn’t immediately clear for how long SOSA is taking the space.
“We work with corporates and investors and connect them to the most relevant startups in Israel,” SOSA Chief Executive Officer Roy Oron told the paper.
Asking rent in past deals at the building between Avenue of the Americas and Fifth Avenue have been in the high-$50s per square foot, according to CoStar Group.
It was not immediately clear if brokers were involved in the transaction, nor when the firm plans to move into the Argo Real Estate-owned building.
Argo itself has its offices at the property, and other tenants include Cornell University and Publishers Clearing House. Until four years ago, the property was home to Splash, a popular gay nightclub that announced in August 2013 it was leaving Chelsea after 22 years, as CO reported at the time.
SOSA doesn’t plan to keep the space long. It will eventually move into about 40,000 square feet about a block away to Ashkenazy Acquisition’s 115 Seventh Avenue. Neither asking rent, the length of the lease and whether brokers were involved was not immediately clear.
The company plans to move into the building between West 16th and West 17th Streets once a renovation is completed, according to the Journal. SOSA, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, is also investing in the property with the landlord as well as Izaki Group Investments and G-Holdings.
Ashkenazy picked up the Chelsea building from Rubin Museum of Art in December 2014 for $57 million, according to property records. Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company provided a $45 million acquisition loan for the property.
