New ‘lease’ on life
Publicist rents big space at 22 V’bilt
THE rarest sighting in this bleak office-leasing season is a deal for more space than a large area rug would cover. But here’s a substantial one: Public relations firm Joe le Frank is taking 78,353 square feet at Mil stein’s 22 Vanderbilt, aka 335 Madison Ave.
Joele Frank, which specializes in strategic corporate representation, will leave 50,000 square feet at Charles S. Cohen’s 622 Third Ave. by year’s end. The new lease is for 16 years with an asking rent of $95 a square foot.
The rose-colored marble tower at Madison and East 43rd Street is wrapping up a yearslong, under-the-radar repositioning spearheaded by Michael Milstein, son of Milstein Properties founder Howard Milstein.
The quarter-billion-dollar project includes a new, publicfriendly lobby with eatery options — not a “food court” — under the overall name of Melangerie, overseen by accomplished New York chef Graceanne Jordan; Bergamo’s, a richly appointed bar/lounge; and nearly 80,000 square feet of tenants’ amenities, including conference and wellness centers.
I had a wonderful, hearty matzo ball soup (“Schmaltz”) and a tangy soba noodle salad at Chef’s Counter, the first of several eateries to open in the lobby.
“There are obviously not a lot of large deals now,” said Paul Amrich, leader of the CBRE team that represented Milstein. After a year-long search for a new home, “the entire Joele Frank partnership fell in love with 22 Vanderbilt,” Amrich said.
The 27-story, 1.19-millionsquare-foot tower is 68% leased. It has two large availabilities right now — 300,000 square feet in the tower and 120,000 square feet in the base.
The Milsteins demolished the former Biltmore Hotel at the site in the 1980s and built a new headquarters for Bank of America, which later moved to One Bryant Park.
The famous Biltmore lobby clock, which also stood for some years in the BofA lobby before disappearing into storage, is to be restored and installed in Bergamo’s.
When the bank left, the Milsteins leased the property out on a floor-by-floor basis, including to Giorgio Armani’s North American headquarters. Now, they’re touting the building, which stands across the street from SL Green’s One Vanderbilt, as an integral part of the fast-revitalizing Grand Central Terminal area.
This week marks a coming-out party of sorts for 22 Vanderbilt. It will host a press briefing, “Grand Central Reimagined,” at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, where speakers are to include MTA Chairman Janno Lieber and Grand Central Partnership President Fred Cerullo.
McGraw-Hill still on
We reported last week that the owners of the landmarked McGraw-Hill building at 330 W. 42nd St. were putting their planned, partial residential conversion on the fast track.
It so happened that a performing $140 million loan on the property was being marketed for sale by Newmark, as the Commercial Observer previously reported. The lender was none other than Signature Bank, which was acquired by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. last week.
Might the bank failure in any way affect the $100 million conversion? Gerard Nocera, a managing partner at the tower’s asset manager Resolution, told the CO that it would not: “We’ve been current on that loan, [we will] stay current on that loan. It’s at a very good rate in today’s world, so we’re happy with that and we plan to extend it.”
But Signature was a prime holder of commercial debt in the city. We can only wonder if its failure will impact other properties less stable and less fortunate than McGraw-Hill.
Shelter support
Mayor Adams’ announcement last week to use the vacant, landmarked Candler Building at 209-213 W. 42nd St. for migrant housing made us expect that Times Square stakeholders would howl their heads off.
Silly us!
“We appreciate everything Mayor Adams is trying to do to help asylum seekers find shelter and to manage the wider crisis,” Durst Organization Chairman Douglas Durst, landlord of 151 W. 42nd St., said. “Ultimately, the federal government and Congress in particular must take responsibility to address the underlying problem.” Times Square Alliance President Tom Harris sounded equally sanguine: “The Adams administration is using the building to solve an immediate crisis and house asylees. We have been discussing this with them and have more plans in place to work with them on all operational logistics so that this is a smooth transition.”