NYC Health + Hospitals Signs 500K-SF Lease at FiDi Office Tower
By Chava Gourarie January 7, 2019 5:00 pm
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NYC Health + Hospitals has signed a 25-year lease for over half a million square feet at GFP Real Estate and Northwind Group’s 50 Water Street in the Financial District.
Health + Hospitals, a nonprofit corporation that operates the city’s public health care facilities, has taken 526,552 square feet and will occupy more than half of the 27-story office building, The Real Deal first reported. It will be the first major tenant under the new ownership of GFP and Northwind.
The two firms went into contract for the building, formerly the headquarters of Guardian Life Insurance, for $308.5 million, in early 2018, per Brian Steinwurtzel, the co-CEO of GFP. The deal is expected to close in September, once Guardian moves to its new headquarters at 10 Hudson Yards.
The owners are rebranding the property, which was formerly known as 7 Hanover Square, into two separate entities with addresses at 50 Water Street and 100 Pearl Street. The 50 Water Street portion will consist of the lower portion of the building, through floor 17, and will be fully occupied by Health + Hospitals. The 100 Pearl Street section will consist of 400,000 square feet of Class-A office space, and include a renovated lobby and 48,000-square-foot duplex penthouse, according to Steinwurtzel.
Health + Hospitals will relocate 2,600 staff members from six offices throughout the city at the new location. The organization will also continue to occupy 220,000 square feet across the street at 55 Water Street, creating a single Downtown campus.
That was a key factor in their decision to sign, according to Newmark Knight Frank’s Brian Waterman, who represented the tenant together with Ira Rovitz. The deal creates a “campus-like environment” and allowed Health + Hospitals to consolidate multiple locations into one, while reducing their rental spend, Waterman said. Asking rent was in the high $50s, a GFP spokeswoman indicated. It was not immediately who represented GFP and Northwind in the deal.
The transition will begin this year and continue over the next five years as existing leases expire, according to a spokesman for Health + Hospitals.
