Law Firm Blank Rome Leaving Chrysler Building for 138K SF in Midtown
By Liam La Guerre May 15, 2018 2:30 pm
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Blank Rome, a law firm, has signed a 138,000-square-foot deal at Rockefeller Group’s 1271 Avenue of the Americas, the landlord announced today.
The practice will occupy part of the 14th floor and the entire 15th through 17th floors of the 48-story tower, which is located between West 50th and West 51st Streets in Midtown West.
The asking rents in the building are between $90 and $125 per square foot, according to The New York Post, which first reported news of the deal. It is for 15 years, according to a source with intimate knowledge of the transaction.
Blank Rome is expected to move from its current offices at the Chrysler Building at 405 Lexington Avenue in 2019.
The firm has 13 offices in the United States and China and more than 600 attorneys. It launched New York City offices in 2000 when it merged with Tenzer Greenblatt. The New York City practice has expertise in financial services, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, matrimonial and family law, litigation business restructuring and bankruptcy.
“We are excited that we will call 1271 Avenue of the Americas our new home next year,” Norman Heller, an administrative partner of Blank Rome’s New York office, said in a prepared statement. “This is a prime location for our clients and colleagues and provides us with an excellent opportunity to continue to grow and thrive in New York.”
A CBRE (CBRE) team of Ken Rapp, David Kleinhandler, Tim Dempsey and Zachary Weil handled the lease for Blank Rome. CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe, Howard Fiddle, John Maher, Dave Caperna, Evan Haskell and Sarah Pontius brokered the deal for the landlord alongside Rockefeller’s in-house team of Ed Guiltinan and Jennifer Stein.
“1271 Avenue of the Americas will enable Blank Rome to create a workplace that is more in line with current law firm standards,” Rapp said in a statement. “Coupled with the extensive upgrades and renovations that Rockefeller Group is implementing at the building, 1271 was a natural choice.”
Rockefeller Group is currently completing a $600 million renovation of the 2.1-million-square-foot building, which was built in 1959 and is currently devoid of tenants. The construction is expected to be completed at the end of 2019.
It won’t be empty for long. Last year, Major League Baseball and Mizuho Bank signed deals at the property totalling roughly 736,000 square feet. And last month, law firm Latham & Watkins inked a 407,000-square-foot deal for the 25th through 34th floors, as CO previously reported.
“The leasing momentum at 1271 Avenue of the Americas and the quality of the tenants to whom we have leased space in the building are encouraging,” Guiltinan, a senior vice president at Rockefeller, said in a statement. “We continue to benefit from our reinvestment in 1271 and the building’s desirable location in the center of Midtown.”
