Virtus Investment Partners Takes 41K SF at Paramount’s 1301 Avenue of the Americas
By Mark Hallum August 1, 2024 9:00 am
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Paramount Group has two new tenants and one staying put at 1301 Avenue of the Americas, Commercial Observer has learned.
The largest of the three is for asset management Virtus Investment Partners. The asset management firm signed a 10-year, 41,191-square-foot deal to relocate from Paramount’s 31 West 52nd Street, where its current lease is expiring in the next year, according to the landlord.
Paramount declined to provide asking rent in the building, but Midtown saw an average asking rent of $92.10 per square foot in the second quarter of 2024, according to a report from Avison Young.
CBRE (CBRE)’s Silvio Petriello and Michael Puzzo as well as JLL’s Jim Schoolfield represented Virtus in the deal while JLL’s Frank Doyle, David Kleiner and Andrew Coe negotiated on behalf of Paramount Group. CBRE and JLL did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Next largest was law firm O’Melveny & Myers, which expanded to 29,499 square feet on a 16-year lease, according to Paramount. It’s unclear how much space the firm currently leases, but the new expansion marks the third footprint increase for O’Melveny & Myers since it began occupying the building in 2022.
CBRE’s Lynn Williams and Jeffrey Welch along with JLL’s Lisa Kiell and Randy Abend handled the deal on behalf of the tenant, while the landlord used in-house brokers.
Finally, private investment firm J.C. Flowers & Company signed a nine-year, 14,217-square-foot lease at 1301 Avenue of the Americas and will relocate from the GM Building at 767 Fifth Avenue, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
The tenant was represented by Savills’ Joseph Genovesi while JLL’s Doyle, Kleiner and Coe brokered the deal on behalf of Paramount. Savills did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other tenants in the building between West 52nd and West 53rd streets include Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank, which signed lease spanning 74,000 square feet in March, as well as Nexstar Media Group, which subleased 68,114 square feet from tax advisory firm CohnReznick in February.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
