GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Ann Taylor Chooses Times Square Tower

NEW YORK CITY-Ann Taylor has chosen Times Square Tower to be its new base of operations. The women’s specialty retailer leaked the choice to its employees in a recent company memo. Last month, GlobeSt.com exclusively reported that the company was shopping around, with the help of Studley, for approximately 200,000 sf of space and had narrowed the choices down to Boston Properties’ Times Square Tower at 7 Times Square and 340 Madison Ave. Space at Time Square Tower is advertised at a range of $52 to $72 per sf. The retailer anticipates relocating in mid-year 2005. CB Richard Ellis represents Boston Properties at Times Square Tower.

The women’s specialty retailer is currently housed at Metropolitan Tower, 142 West 57th St. In a consolidation effort, the company recently signed on for 42,000 sf of office space in the Crown Corporate Campus in Milford, CT. That 15-year lease arrangement encompasses the entire second floor and a portion of the first floor for the company’s data center and back office operations. Cushman & Wakefield officials who worked on that deal said Ann Taylor will relocate its data center from New York City and its operations group from space in New Haven to the Milford site. Studley represented the company in this transaction as well.