News broke last night that plans for Carnegie Hall Tower were dead and that Clinton's newly favored spot is 55 W. 125th St. in Harlem. In a broadcast interview, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) put the estimated value of the lease "in the $300,000 range." Rangel also said that he had been lobbying for Clinton to consider Harlem well before he left office.
Despite the rampant rumors about the Harlem space--no deal has been inked as of yet--Janel Patterson of the city's Economic Development Corp. tells GlobeSt.com that she has no knowledge of a Harlem deal.
The property is located in part of the Harlem Urban Development Corp. Program in an Empowerment Zone, which would apparently make Clinton eligible for federal funding and tax breaks if he were to lease there. This makes Patterson's statement all the more curious.
Throughout the weeks of speculation, a representative at Brown, Harris, Stevens, the brokerage firm said to be representing Clinton in the negotiations, repeatedly told GlobeSt.com, "Any comment at this time would put the firm in an awkward position."
The collapse of the Midtown deal apparently caught many by surprise. In a conversation this past Thursday, Brown, Harris principal Kent Swig told GlobeSt.com that the tower deal was as good as done and that the story has been played out. He did admit that he was unsure at the time if papers had actually been signed.
"Clinton's lease will give any building some strong logistical problems due to the need for heightened security," notes Fred C. Posniak, vice president at W&M Properties and the director of marketing and supervisory services for Wein & Malkin LLP, the supervisors of the the Fisk Building, located near Carnegie Hall Tower. The near-miss neighbor of the former president says, "An ex-president in a building is a great, sexy name to have on a brochure, but it will most likely be a headache for the owner."
"And as far as what the lease would do for the locale," he adds, "it would be nice to have him there, but it wouldn't add that much value to the neighborhood."
Now, Clinton may very well become the headache of Cogswell Realty Group, which owns 55 W. 125th St. Cogswell's CEO did suggest last night to a hungry press corps that Clinton was considering renting a floor in the building for $30 per sf, a detail gobbled up and disseminated.
According to the GSA's web site, the Former Presidents Act of Aug. 25, 1958 gives ex-presidents a pension, which as of December 2000 was $157,000. Payment began for Clinton on January 20, 2001. The Secretary of Treasury is responsible for the monthly payments and for six months after Clinton's term expired, as per protocol, he is provided with a GSA staff. During the same period, also, the GSA provides "office space, furnishings and equipment, at such place in the United States as the former president designates." Public Law 92-313 further requires "agencies to reimburse GSA at rates approximating commercial rates for such space and services unless GSA waives such charges as unfeasible or impractical."
As GlobeSt.com published this morning, calls to Brown, Harris, Stevens and Carnegie Hall Towers' Rockrose Development were unanswered.
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