The lease was for the entire 14th floor of the building. Howard Greenberg, president of Howard Properties Ltd., was the exclusive tenant representative for Kaufman Borgeest & Ryan, in partnership with Barry Lewen and Lewis Cowan of Grubb & Ellis. This was the 13th lease transaction in which Greenberg had represented the law firm since 2000, totaling more than 126,000 sf of space.
Cowan tells GlobeSt.com that the lease term is 15 years. He notes that in terms of economics, it was a competitive market deal, but he could not provide an aggregate lease value at this time. He did confirm however, that asking rent is around $45 at the property.
Cowan also explains that the reason for the move was a value play. "They could get much more for their dollar within the framework of the transaction." Kaufman Borgeest & Ryan was approaching the expiration of a lease for 26,000 sf in Midtown at 99 Park Ave.
"This transaction shows how a tenant can successfully deal with the current strength of the Manhattan office market" explains Greenberg, adding that Kaufman Borgeest & Ryan required a significant expansion for its New York office. "Staying in Midtown would have meant almost doubling our client's current rent. We reviewed a number of different submarkets in Manhattan, and the tenant settled on 120 Broadway as the best combination of quality and value. The ability to occupy a full floor in a well-located, high quality, landmark building with a top-rated landlord was very attractive to KBR."
Cowan tells GlobeSt.com that the law firm will "have the opportunity to have the space custom built specifically to their requirements from a raw floor." Cowan adds that although the building itself was built in 1919, the infrastructure is state of the art and is brand new.
Wayne Borgeest, a founding partner of Kaufman Borgeest & Ryan says in a prepared statement that "once again, Howard Greenberg has successfully represented our firm, and succeeded in negotiating an advantageous economic package for us in a very challenging real estate market. We continually look to Howard not only to secure the space that we need, but to help us to plan and strategize the best ways to manage our continued growth. He is always ahead of the curve, looking into the future and thinking about how we can deal with our real estate requirements in the most cost-effective manner."
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
