By LOIS WEISS, May 19, 2010
Despite nervous nellies fretting a while back that Manhattan would be awash in large chunks of empty office space, a sudden dearth of big blocks of available space has prompted developers to consider dusting off their plans for new, large office buildings.
Some brokers say that large block availabilities have been chipped away in central locations, leaving those needing 400,000 square feet to mull splitting their requirements within the same tower, taking some floors in one section of a building, and a group of floors in another portion.
“These days, you have to be very creative,” said Peter Turchin of CB Richard Ellis. “If I need a list of 400,000 [square foot] blocks, there aren’t many.”
According to current Cushman & Wakefield statistics, there were just 17 blocks of 250,000 square feet available within the last six months.
…Meanwhile, various industry sources highlighted some of the current brick-kicking taking place among major corporations.
Morgan Stanley is seeking 850,000 to 1 million square feet downtown through Barry Gosin at Newmark Knight Frank, while Condé Nast, as you may have read, is also in need of one million feet. Both are looking at all the future World Trade Center towers.
Others on the hunt include:
* Société Générale for 500,000 square feet, though the French bank may renew its current lease through Pat Murphy at CB Richard Ellis.
* French advertising giant Havas, which has tapped Gosin and colleague David Falk to help it search for 400,000 square feet.
* NYU’s Langone Medical Center, which is searching with Josh Kurlioff and Bruce Mosler at Cushman & Wakefield.
* Bank of New York, which has tapped Peter Riguardi at Jones Lang LaSalle in its search for 450,000 square feet.
* Neuberger Berman, which has hired NKF’s Neil Goldmacher for its search for 340,000 square feet.
* Columbia Presbyterian, which is getting help from Goldmacher and colleague Mark Weiss in its quest to secure between 300,000 and 400,000 square feet.
* Men’s retailer Paul Stuart, which is in the hunt for 150,000 square feet.
* Money manager Nataxis, which is nearing a deal to move into 173,000 square feet on the third through sixth floors of 1251 Avenue of the Americas thanks to Cushman & Wakefield’s John Cefaly.
Source- http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/realestate/commercial/same_tower_different_floors_NXZIKJQ1MdlYaDYz7xGyqM
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BNY Mellon Seeks New Space, May Sell Wall St. Tower
May 18, 2010, By David M. Levitt and Charles Stein
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. is considering moving from its Manhattan headquarters and selling 1 Wall Street, the building it now occupies, Jeep Bryant, a spokesman for the bank, said in an interview.
The company sent a request for proposals to New York City landlords seeking about 450,000 square feet of space, Bryant said today by telephone. A move may prompt the bank to sell its 52-story limestone tower at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway in lower Manhattan, he said.
“We are looking for a location that might be better equipped to meet our needs,” Bryant said. “We are looking for improved client meeting space and something that can accommodate state-of-the-art technology.”
The search comes as the pace of leasing office space in New York is rising. Tenants signed contracts for 6.75 million square feet of space through the first four months of this year, almost double the amount in the same period of 2009, broker CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. said May 11. Commercial property sales are also picking up, with dollar volume tripling in the first quarter, according to broker Cushman & Wakefield Inc.
The possibility that the market is reaching bottom helped convince BNY Mellon to look for space, Bryant said. “Part of this exploration over the next few months is to see if that is indeed the case,” he said.
The bank expects to decide whether to lease new space and sell its headquarters by the end of the year, he said.”
