Asset Manager Varagon Takes 32K SF at Durst’s One Five One
By Celia Young March 17, 2022 3:16 pm
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Asset manager Varagon Capital Partners inked a deal for a full floor at the Durst Organization’s One Five One, Commercial Observer has learned.
Varagon snagged 31,515 square feet on the 53rd floor of the building and will relocate from its slightly smaller offices at 299 Park Avenue, according to Durst. Asking rent was $110 per square foot in the five-year deal.
“[Varagon] felt comfortable taking a little more space in this building for the next five years,” said Durst’s Rocco Romeo, who brokered the deal for the landlord in-house alongside Tom Bow and Tanya Grimaldo. “Varagon actually has a short-term window for when [it needs] space and they felt like this fit perfectly.”
The firm plans on moving into the 48-story tower at 151 West 42nd Street in the fourth quarter, after its lease expires at its former building in the fall. The 53rd floor is located just below TikTok’s offices at the tower, and Varagon’s short lease term worked out for the landlord, as the social media company has the option to expand into that floor in five years, Romeo said.
The asset manager will join other notable tenants at the building at the corner of West 42nd Street and Broadway including the BMO Harris Bank, law firm Venable, Nasdaq and Ampersand Media.
The space was previously occupied by law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which left the building when it relocated to Manhattan West in Hudson Yards.
The building nearly emptied in 2019 after Skadden and its other tenant, Condé Nast, left, but Durst has managed to fill the firm space and it now sits at 90 percent leased, according to the Durst Organization.
Newmark’s Brad Needleman and Leo Paytas handled the deal for Varagon. The two did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Celia Young can be reached at cyoung@commercialobserver.com.
