Universities Head to Savitt Partners’ Garment District Property
By Rebecca Baird-Remba February 7, 2018 3:53 pm
reprints![](https://commercialobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/02/218-west-40th-street.jpg?quality=80&w=339)
Two colleges are setting up shop in a Garment District office building.
Long Island Business Institute and Touro College recently leased nearly 74,000 square feet of space at Savitt Partners’ 218 West 40th Street, The New York Post first reported.
Touro inked a long-term direct deal for 49,300 square feet on the third, fourth, 11th and 12th floors of the 12-story building, according to a release from the landlord. The private college had previously been subleasing on the third and fourth floors. The 47-year-old nonprofit school has outposts throughout the city, with locations in Forest Hills, Flushing, Harlem, Flatbush, Midwood, Coney Island and the Flatiron District.
Then Long Island Business Institute leased 24,500 square feet on the entire ninth and 10th floors of the 166,000-square-foot property, taking over space previously occupied by the Art Institute of New York.
Average asking rent in the property is $55 a square foot, and the lengths of the leases weren’t available.
JLL (JLL)’s Rob Martin and Amanda Bokman, along with Richard Bernstein of Cushman & Wakefield (CWK), handled the transaction for Touro College. Long Island Business Institute was represented by Justin DiMare and Howard Kessler of Newmark (NMRK) Knight Frank. Spokespeople for C&W, NKF and JLL didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
On the landlord side, Brian Neugeboren, Nicole Goetz and Bob Savitt represent Savitt Partners in-house during the lease negotiations.
“These latest leases with Touro and LIBI demonstrate the appeal of 218 West 40th Street for major tenants,” Neugeboren said in prepared remarks. “The combination of the building’s design, amenities and central location made selecting 218 West 40th Street as the long term home for Touro and LIBI an easy decision.”