Centric Brands Signs Direct Deal for 212K SF at Empire State Building
By Nicholas Rizzi October 15, 2020 4:46 pm
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Lifestyles brands company Centric Brands, which recently emerged from bankruptcy, signed a direct deal to keep its Empire State Building headquarters, Commercial Observer has learned.
Centric Brands inked a 10-year lease with Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) for 212,154 square feet on the entire fourth floor and parts of the fifth and sixth floors of the iconic skyscraper at 350 Fifth Avenue, according to a source with knowledge of the deal and the landlord. Asking rent was in the low to mid $70s per square foot.
The company previously subleased about 300,000 square feet in the building from brand management firm Global Brands Group but gave back some of the space on the fifth and sixth floors in the new deal to save money and because it wasn’t using all of it, the source said.
GBG has put the remaining space — about 100,000 square feet — out for sublease, which is being marketed by JLL’s Mitch Konsker and Alexander Chudnoff, according to the source.
In May, Centric Brands — which sells products under licenses for Calvin Klein, Nautica and Tommy Hilfiger — filed for Chapter 11 with about $1.7 billion in debt, Women’s Wear Daily reported. Last week, it exited bankruptcy backed by Blackstone Group and after shedding $700 million of its debt.
JLL’s Peter Riguardi, Joseph Messina and Cynthia Wasserberger represented Centric in its Empire State Building deal while ESRT handled it in-house via Anthony Malkin, Ryan Kass and Shanae Ursini. A spokesman for JLL declined to comment.
“As part of Centric Brands’ reorganization, they considered all their options for their offices,” Malkin said in a statement. “It is gratifying that they chose to restack and make a long-term commitment to ESB.”
