Leases  ·  Office

Deals Signed at One Vanderbilt to 280 Park as SL Green Snags 1.2M SF of Leases

reprints


SL Green Realty Corp. is closing out the decade by announcing nearly a dozen leases — totaling about 1.2 million square feet — recently signed across its portfolio, including a new tenant to replace the music venue Playstation Theater in Times Square.

“Leasing velocity has remained strong throughout the year with a notable uptick during the fourth quarter, during which we expect to sign over 1.3 million square feet of leases,” Steven Durels, SL Green (SLG)’s director of leasing, said in a statement. 

SEE ALSO: Trends Cannabis Dispensary to Open in Long Island City

Among the deals announced by the developer on Monday — including Amazon’s giant 335,000 square feet at 410 Tenth Avenuewere leases ranging from 10,000 square feet to 47,000 square feet at One Vanderbilt, 420 Lexington Avenue, 100 Park Avenue, Worldwide Plaza, 1515 Broadway, and 280 Park Avenue. There were also two deals totaling about 93,000 square feet at the REIT’s 711 Third Avenue in Midtown East. 

Durels noted there’s been strong demand from tenants in the TAMI (technology, advertising, media and information), FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate) and legal sectors. 

The deals include:

1. Greenberg Traurig

Powerhouse law firm Greenberg Traurig signed a 15-year lease for 46,744 square feet in the Graybar Building at 420 Lexington Avenue, between East 43rd and East 45th Streets, in Midtown. 

Greenberg Traurig already has 9,848 square feet on the fifth floor and the deal renews that space and adds 36,896 square feet on part of the 19th floor of the building, which also serves as SL Green’s corporate headquarters, according to SL Green. The deal marks the second office the law firm will have in SL Green’s portfolio: In January 2018, Greenberg Traurig signed on for between 130,000 and 140,000 square feet in the under-construction One Vanderbilt tower, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

A spokesman for SL Green did not provide the asking rents in the 420 Lexington Avenue deal, but previous leases in the 31-story tower had asking rents around $65 per square foot, as per CO. It’s unclear who brokered the deal.

2. RAD Entertainment Group

RAD Entertainment Group signed a deal to replace the Playstation Theater at 1515 Broadway in the Theater District, SL Green said. 

The 2,100-seat Playstation Theater, operated by AEG Live, plans to close by the end of the year with final shows by jam band Disco Biscuits, AM New York reported. RAD Entertainment — which previously ran the historic Beacon Theatre at 2124 Broadway — inked a 20-year lease for 39,436 square feet on the ground floor and lower level of the 57-story building between West 45th and West 46th Streets. RAD plans to continue to host concerts and other large events in the space, a spokesman for SL Green said.

The venue — which previously was the single-screen Loews Astor Plaza movie theater — was reopened in 2005 as the Nokia Theatre by AEG Live, AM New York reported. It later became the Best Buy Theater and had held concerts from popular musicians including U2.

Ariel Schuster, Ross Berkowitz and Jared Robins of Newmark Knight Frank handled the deal for SL Green. It’s unclear who represented RAD.

A spokesman for NKF declined to comment.

3. ITV U.S. Holdings

The American arm of British reality show producer ITV will move its offices to 31,971 square feet in 100 Park Avenue in Midtown East, according to SL Green.

ITV — which is behind shows like “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Pawn Stars” — signed a 10-year lease for the entire 15th floor of the building between East 40th and East 41st Streets near Grand Central Terminal. Previous asking rents in the building have been around $82 per square foot, CO previously reported.

The company, which launched its American outpost in 2013, currently has its offices at 460 West 34th Street. It wasn’t clear when it plans to move to its new digs.

SavillsGreg Taubin and Nick Farmakis represented SL Green in the deal while Tara Stacom, Barry Zeller, Justin Royce, Pierce Hance and Connor Daugstrup of Cushman & Wakefield handled it for the tenant. A spokeswoman for Savills declined to comment and C&W spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.

4. Wilk Auslander

Law firm Wilk Auslander — which currently has space at SL Green’s 1515 Broadway — plans to move to Worldwide Plaza in Hell’s Kitchen.

The firm signed a 10-year lease for 24,396 square feet on part of the 29th floor of 825 Eighth Avenue between West 49th and West 50th Streets, according to SL Green, which owns the property with New York REIT and RXR Realty.

The SL Green spokesman did not provide the asking rent, but asking rents in the building are around $80 per square foot, the New York Post previously reported.

In May, the landlords of the mixed-use Worldwide Plaza — which has 2.1 million rentable square feet with about 1.8 million square feet of office — lost its largest tenant when law firm Cravath Swain & Moore signed a deal to leave its 617,000-square-foot space and move to Two Manhattan West in 2024, the Post reported.The deal follows last month’s news that business consulting firm West Monroe Partners signed on for 41,715 square feet in the 50-story tower, as CO previously reported.

CBRE’s Tim Dempsey represented the tenant in the deal. It wasn’t immediately clear who handled it for the landlord.

5. Cardinia Real Estate

Cardinia Real Estate, a subsidiary of advertising giant Omnicom Group, took 20,310 square feet at SL Green and Vornado Realty Trust’s 280 Park Avenue in Midtown.

The company signed a 10-year lease for 20,310 square feet on the entire 31st floor of the 1.3-million-square-foot complex between West 48th and West 49th Streets, according to SL Green. It’s unclear which of the two towers of the property — reaching 49 and 23 stories respectively — Cardinia will move into.

The SL Green spokesman would not provide asking rents, but previous deals in the property had asking rents of $105 per square foot, as per CO.

Cardinia currently has 220,759-square-foot offices at 196 Broadway and it’s unclear when it plans to move into 280 Park Avenue.

Lee Feld of Feld Real Estate represented Cardinia along with CBRE’s Stephen Siegel. Mary Ann Tighe, Peter Turchin, Gregg Rothkin and Jason Pollen, also of CBRE, handled it for the landlords.

A spokeswoman for CBRE did not provide a comment and Feld could not be reached for comment.

6. McDermott Will & Emery

Chicago-based law firm McDermott Will & Emery increased its presence at One Vanderbilt by another 15,860 square feet, according to SL Green.

The law firm signed a 20-year expansion for part of the fourth floor of the 1,401-foot-tall building under construction across from Grand Central Terminal, bringing its total presence in the property to 146,642 square feet, the landlord said.

McDermott Will currently has its offices at 340 Madison Avenue between East 43rd and East 44th Street but in April 2018 took 105,539 square feet on the entire 44th through 46th and 67th floors of the planned skyscraper, as CO previously reported. It later signed on for another 25,243 square feet.

The SL Green spokesman declined to provide asking rent, but they have ranged from $135 to $160 per square foot in the property, as per CO.

The Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed skyscraper broke ground in 2016 and topped out in September.

NKF’s Moshe Sukenik and Noel Flagg represented McDermott Will, and it’s unclear if SL Green had any brokers in the deal. The brokers did not respond to requests for comments through a spokesman.

7. Walgreens

Walgreens has announced a deal to vacate its space at One Madison Avenue and move to 304 Park Avenue South in Midtown, according to SL Green. 

The retailer signed a 10-year lease to take 8,458 square feet across portions of the building’s ground and second floor. Its tenure at One Madison is coming to a close as SL Green is planning to renovate the property into modern office and retail space, as CO reported. 

The tenant was represented by JLL’s Erin Grace and Michael Riley. It wasn’t immediately clear who handled it for the landlord.