Speaker Manufacturer Harman Puts Its Creative Agency Near Bryant Park
By Rebecca Baird-Remba December 11, 2018 5:35 pm
reprints
Audio equipment manufacturer Harman is moving its new design agency, Huemen, into Savanna’s 19 West 44th Street.
The Samsung-owned speaker maker inked an 11,000-square-foot lease on the top floor of the 18-story building between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas, just north of Bryant Park, according to tenant broker Savills Studley. The space will feature a 2,000-square-foot outdoor terrace, 13-foot ceilings and a mezzanine. A Savills Studley spokeswoman declined to provide the terms of the lease. The office will house both Harman’s internal design practice and its studio for external design clients.
“Creating this design studio in the heart of New York solidifies Harman’s commitment to world-class design across all disciplines,” Christian Schluender, the vice president of global design at Harman, said in prepared remarks.
Savills Studley’s Christopher Foerch represented Harman in the deal, along with Los Angeles-based broker Marcus Arredondo, who works with Harman globally. The landlord was represented by JLL (JLL)’s Mitch Konsker, Ben Bass, Barbara Winter and Kip Orban, who declined to comment through a spokesman.
Harman, which is based in Stamford, Conn., chose the space in Savanna’s building because it offered an outdoor terrace for events and was located near Grand Central Terminal, giving employees easy access to Metro North trains back to the company headquarters, Foerch said in a statement.
“We are thrilled to welcome Harman as the first new tenant since we acquired the building,” Brian Reiver, Savanna’s managing director, said in prepared remarks. “When we planned our initial capital improvements for the asset, the intent of our work was to attract a wide range of tenants through high-quality, thoughtfully designed prebuilt offices.”
Savanna is spending $25 million to renovate the 300,000-square-foot building, with upgrades that include a new lobby and modern amenities. The development firm purchased the 1916 property for $195 million from Germany-based Deka Immobilien GmbH last year, as CO reported at the time.
