Garrick-Aug Worldwide Ltd. vice chairman Consolo will co-broker the tri-level space in the former IBM Building at 57th Street and Madison Avenue with Lois Zambo, executive vice president and co-branch manager of Studley's Washington DC office. Studley senior managing director Daniel Horowitz and associate director Jeff Peck will continue to work on the account from the firm's New York headquarters.

The space was previously occupied by the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center and Newseum NY photojournalism gallery. Freedom Forum's lease on the space runs until 2011 but the non-profit has pulled out of New York in preparation for a major consolidation at a new headquarters building currently under construction in Washington, DC.

The Madison Avenue property's retail component comprises roughly 21,700 sf on the selling concourse, 2,800 sf at ground level and 3,200 sf on the mezzanine. The 100 feet of frontage on Madison Avenue has a double-height glass storefront. The space also boasts its own address, independent of the corporate building: 580 Madison Ave.

"The key here is that this is not only a wonderful office building, it's also one of the best retail corners in the world," Consolo tells GlobeSt.com. "And with its own address, it's almost like a building within a building. You don't get much better than this. It's one of the real jewels with an infinite amount of possibilities." Consolo notes that while several possible space configurations and leasing strategies are under consideration, the most probable scenario will involve one or more sublease arrangements with Freedom Forum.

According to Studley's Zambo, bringing Consolo in to refine the marketing process is already paying off. "We felt that we needed to add that 100% retail expertise to the team in order to properly represent Freedom Forum and get the space leased more quickly." Zambo tells GlobeSt.com. "We're putting a lot of resources onto the project and we've had a lot of interest and inquiries and we have received a couple of proposals." She adds that several retail brokers were interviewed for the job but she declined to name the short-listed candidates. Sources close to the deal, however, say it finally came down to Robert K. Futterman & Associates and Garrick-Aug.

Built in 1983, 590 Madison Ave. is a one-million-sf office tower. The 43-story building is owned by a venture led by Edward J. Minskoff.

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