Displaced from its Two World Trade Center headquarters on Sept. 11, Guy Carpenter set up makeshift headquarters in Midtown while scouting permanent space. "After 9/11, Guy Carpenter moved its operations temporarily to 114 W. 47th Street and debated where to establish a permanent home," says Insignia/ESG's Mary Ann Tighe, one of eight Insignia brokers on both sides of the deal. "It's significant and a great coup for New York that the company will be keeping its headquarters in Manhattan." (Marsh & McLennan is also headquartered in the City at 1166 Avenue of the Americas.)
Craig Reicher, Gregory Tosko and Tim Dempsey worked with Tighe in representing Guy Carpenter, while Robert Alexander, Lewis Miller, Jason Gorman, and Jonathan Walsh acted for sublessor Credit Suisse First Boston Corp., which net leases the building from MetLife. While details of the Guy Carpenter lease have not been disclosed, London-based Standard Chartered bank earlier this year signed a long-term deal priced in the low $40s per sf for the building's 92,000-sf third floor.
The 53-story 1 Madison Ave. building was completed in 1909 and comprises 1.3 million sf between its 12-story main building and adjacent 50-floor tower. Building owner MetLife net-leased the entire asset to CSFB in January 2001 and then leased back 260,000 sf in the tower. Guy Carpenter will occupy the entire fourth floor of the main building and the third and fourth floors of the tower.
According to Miller, "Guy Carpenter was attracted by the quality, location, amenities and large floorplates afforded by the building, and CSFB was excited about the prospect of having a company of the caliber and quality of Guy Carpenter relocate its headquarters to the property."
MetLife had roughly 2,200 employees at the property until last June, when the firm relocated 1,000 staff to 27-01 Bridge Plaza North in Long Island City. CSFB occupied 1.4 million sf in 1 Madison Ave.'s main building until late last year. In December, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey leased 100,000 sf on the main building's seventh floor and will be leasing another 50,000 sf in the near future. Following the Guy Carpenter lease, CSFB retains roughly 830,000 sf in the building.
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