Five Tenants Sign 19K SF of Deals at Blake Partners’ 39 West 37th Street

Five new office leases totaling 19,191 square feet were signed at a Midtown building three blocks south of Bryant Park, Commercial Observer has learned.

CRC Insurance Group, one of the largest wholesale specialty insurance distributors in North America, took the largest spread at Blake Partners’ 39 West 37th Street, signing a 6,261-square-foot lease on the entire ninth floor of the building between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas, according to landlord broker Noah & Company.

Asking rent in the building is $45 per square foot, according to the brokerage, which did not disclose the length of the leases.

The CRC Insurance deal represents a possible relocation from 80 Broad Street in the Financial District.

“Successful leasing begins long before a tenant walks through the front door,” Benjamin Blumenthal, founder of Noah & Company, said in a statement. “It starts with understanding how a building should compete in today’s market. At 39 West 37th Street, we recognized exceptional fundamentals — efficient floor plates, abundant natural light, outstanding accessibility and boutique identity. Our role was to help ownership build a strategy around those strengths and communicate that story to the marketplace.”

Gregory Dunne of Lincoln Property Company represented CRC Insurance in the deal, but did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, rare Pokemon card dealer Playpacked, also known simply as Packed, likewise took 6,261 square feet across the entire third floor of the property, with representation from Max Krantz of Norman Bobrow & Company. Krantz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Third-party health care benefits administration firm Leading Edge Administrators signed a lease for 2,914 square feet on the 12th floor, according to Blumenthal. Solomon Rusk of Noah & Company represented Leading Edge.

Fradkin & McAlpin Architects relocated to 2,000 square feet on the 14th floor from the 18th floor of the building, according to Noah & Company.

Lastly, Ember Realty signed a lease for 1,755 square feet on the 10th floor and was represented by Ralph Chattah of Noah & Company. The deal possibly marks Ember’s first office presence in New York City.

The leasing spurt, which took place over a period of two weeks, was a good sign for Blake Partners, which acquired the building from Walter & Samuels in January for $26.5 million and launched a capital improvement program to renovate the lobby and facade and upgrade the building systems, according to Noah & Company.

“Our objective was never to reinvent the building, but to build upon its strengths through thoughtful capital investment, responsive ownership and a long-term perspective,” Elias Marcovici, principal of Blake Partners, said in a statement.

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