Pharmaceutical Software Developer Schrödinger Inks 109K Lease at 1540 Broadway
By Celia Young April 26, 2021 12:33 pm
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Pharmaceutical software developer Schrödinger signed a lease for 108,849 square feet at Edge Funds’ 1540 Broadway, also known as the Bertelsmann Building, the New York Post first reported. The 17-year lease was signed on April 5.
The lease covers four full floors of the 44-story building, spanning from the 21st through 24th floors, according to a recent Schrödinger Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Asking rent was $70 per square foot.
Schrödinger’s rent will rise to $82 per square foot after 10 years. The tenant scored 16 months of free rent to start off the lease, something more landlords have been willing to offer in order to entice tenants to sign deals during the pandemic.
Schrödinger, which provides software products for life sciences companies, will relocate from its 63,000-square-foot office at 120 West 45th Street, which it expanded by 23,000 square feet in 2018, Commercial Observer reported. The asking rent for its Tower 45 property was $82 per square foot, meaning Schrödinger’s expansion into the Theater District comes at a lower price.
The lease doubles the software developer’s footprint in Manhattan, and comes after the Bertelsmann Building underwent a $40 million renovation in 2019 and put several floors on the market. Schrödinger’s new office will neighbor Adobe, which occupies the 17th through 20th floors. Other tenants of the building include MAC Cosmetics and Disney.
The landlord was represented by CBRE’s Howard Fiddle, Eric Deutsch, Christie Harle and Ben Joseph. The tenant was represented by Cushman & Wakefield’s Peter Van Duyne and Alex Lachmund. Van Duyne and Lachmund declined to comment, and brokers from JLL did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Edge Fund Advisors, in partnership with HSBC Alternative Investments, purchased 1540 Broadway in 2010. Since then, it has added a food hall, renovated the lobby and added new tech to the 1990s building, which will soon have more space available, thanks to Viacom’s departure from floors 27 to 35, NYP reported.
Update: The story has been updated to indicate that CBRE’s Howard Fiddle, Eric Deutsch, Christie Harle and Ben Joseph represented the landlord, not JLL’s Peter Riguardi, Clark Finney and Frank Doyle.
