Big box lands on 125th St.

Bed Bath & Beyond leases

Just in time for the 40th Anniversary of Harlem Week, Bed Bath & Beyond and WeWork have leased the full, 30,000squarefoot floors at the new 5 W. 125th St. project.

BBB will have the 2nd floor and WeWork the 3rd in the upcoming 130,000squarefoot project topped by 30 residen tial rentals that should be completed in the fall of 2015.

Asking rents were $50 per foot, and both companies will have soaring ceilings, signage and branding overlooking the major intersection at Fifth Avenue.

The homeaccessories retailer will have an entrance through the main lobby on West 125th that in the future could be shared by a lowerlevel store. WeWork members will have a private lobby in the rear of the building on West 126th Street.

“Bed Bath & Beyond will be embraced by the Harlem community and will drive heavy pedestrian traffic east of Lenox Avenue,” said Jared Ep

stein, Aurora’s vice president who represented the ownership in both deals that were made directly with the tenants.

Epstein said Aurora is field ing offers from several national retailers for the 21,000 feet on the ground floor with an asking rent of $120 per foot and the same footage below with a $50 per foot ask.

Bobby Cayre’s Aurora Capital Associates and the Adjmi family bought the stalled site from RCG Longview in December and revised the plans.

Yesterday, Aurora was revealed by The Post as a 50/50 partner with Vornado Realty Trust in a 99year ground lease for the Prince Lumber site at 61 Ninth Ave on the southwest corner of Ninth Ave. where they will develop a $125 million office and retail building of 130,000 square feet.

The Hotel Pennsylvania may not be safe from the wrecking ball after all.

Vornado chief Steve Roth revealed Tuesday that financial firms have approached the realestate powerhouse about resurrecting its plans to raze the famed hotel opposite Madison Square Garden and replace it with a 3 million squarefoot tower, known as 15 Penn Plaza.

“We are getting very interesting intriguing incomings as to office tenants that might want that site,” Roth said during a conference call.

“We are putting our big toe in the marketplace to explore the opportunity to land a major anchor tenant for the site and the Penn Plaza district,” he added. “We are up to our eyeballs in it, but there is nothing specific we are able to go public with.”

Vornado shelved plans to build a tower to house headquarters and trading floors for Merrill Lynch after the brokerage firm backed away from the deal in 2007. Less than a year later, Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch as Merrill teetered on the brink of collapse.

“We have a 3 millionsquarefoot financial servicesoriented tower, which was designed for a huge financial services company that we had a deal with that went away during the Great Recession,” Roth recalled. “It is sitting on our shelves.”

The plans for the 68story tower, which would rise almost as high as the nearby Empire State Building, also had been criticized by that building’s ownership for potentially ruining the skyline off New York.

Vornado finally shifted gears in March 2013, as The Post first reported, and announced plans for a massive renovation of the Hotel Pennsylvania, which would have the added benefit of improving the neighborhood where Vornado has extensive holdings.

But now, the Hudson Yards neighborhood to the west is gathering steam with a new park, major towers and bigname tenants, leading more companies to consider all the area sites and options.

While Roth said the roughly $300 million hotel renovation has been put “on hold,” the firm will go down one of two paths — either landing an anchor tenant for a new tower or a renovation of the hotel that would still generate more income and improve the neighborhood.

Designer Victor de Souza will also participate in the monthlong Harlem Week 40th Anniversary by opening a 600foot pop up boutique at 2312 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. on the southwest corner of 136th Street.

He will make his New York Fashion Week debut on Sept. 3 and is also seeking permanent store space.

Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of Douglas Elliman’s retail group, along with Joseph Aquino and Arthur Maglio, who also both work for the firm, represented both sides of the deal.