Franklin Templeton Takes 347K SF at SL Green’s One Madison

By Mark Hallum September 29, 2022 11:16 am

A rendering of the future One Madison Avenue, at 23rd Street and Madison Avenue. Image: KPF

The tenant roster continues to grow at SL Green Realty’s under-construction One Madison Avenue.

Franklin Templeton Investments signed a 15-year lease for 347,474 square feet, a footprint that will span floors 11 through 22 in the 1.4 million-square-foot office tower scheduled for completion in 2023, according to the developers. The asking rent was $145 per square foot, according to SL Green (SLG).

The lease with Franklin Templeton, which has had its offices at Vornado Realty Trust (VNO)’s 280 Park Avenue since 2015, means the One Madison Avenue is 55 percent leased after the 328,000-square-foot deal with anchor tenant IBM and the 56,000-square-foot transaction with Chelsea Piers Fitness.

“This lease and the earlier IBM transaction are the second- and third-largest new leases signed in Manhattan in 2022 and are validation as to the exceptional quality of the building design,” Marc Holliday, CEO of SL Green, said in a statement. “One Madison will transform the Midtown South market much in the same way that One Vanderbilt Avenue has transformed the Midtown East market.”

Franklin Templeton was represented by Robert Lowe, Jeff Cushman, John Cushman, Peyton Horn and Paige Engeldrum of Cushman & Wakefield (CWK), while Paul Glickman, Alexander Chudnoff, Diana Biasotti and Benjamin Bass of JLL (JLL) negotiated on behalf of SL Green.

“As the office of the future, One Madison continues to attract leading companies that see New York City as a magnet for talent, commerce, culture and the arts,” Glickman said in a statement. “This is a masterfully redeveloped tower, and one of the newest office spaces in the city, and it solidifies Midtown South’s position as a distinctive hub for creative work and play. We anticipate continued interest from corporate leaders eager to locate in the building.”

C&W declined to comment.

SL Green has owned One Madison since 2005 when it purchased it from MetLife for $918 million and launched a $2.3 billion plan to gut renovate the historic building by preserving the limestone facade and adding a new glass tower with 500,000 square feet of office space on top.

National Pension Service of Korea and Hines acquired a 49.5 percent stake in the development in 2020, and SL Green sold off a 25 percent stake in the asset in December 2021 to an anonymous investor for $259.3 million.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.