Manhattan-based Excelled Leather/Reilly Olmes, a leather and fabric outerwear manufacturer has leased 15,000 sf at W&H Properties' 1400 Broadway, to combine several locations into one modern design, office and showroom space. Funaro & Co., which is relocating from One Penn Plaza, leased the entire 41st floor of 20,008 sf, at W&H's Empire State Building. Goldin Associates LLC, leased 10,577 sf there on the 18th floor.

[IMGCAP(2)]Excelled Leather/Reilly Olmes will occupy the entire 31st floor. According to W&H Properties' website, asking rent at 1400 Broadway is between $50 per sf and $58 per sf. Philip Proetto of locally based Colliers ABR Inc. represented Excelled Leather and the Reilly Olmes Brand in the transaction. The landlord was represented by Newmark Knight Frank.

"We are excited to have helped Excelled Leather and the Reilly Olmes Brand secure the best tower floor in the Garment Center," says Proetto. "This spectacular space will complement Excelled's cutting-edge designs."

Funaro & Co. was represented by Michael Burgio of Cushman & Wakefield in lease negotiations. Goldin Associates was represented by Charles Borrok and Philip Weiss of Cushman & Wakefield. The firm is currently based at 400 Madison Ave. According to W&H's website, asking rents at the property are in the high $50s per sf to high $60s per sf. Queries to C&W regarding further information were not returned by deadline.

"These signings further highlight the steady interest in the property among high-caliber tenants within the financial sector," notes Stephen Eynon of CB Richard Ellis, director of leasing for the property. "The response from the real estate and business communities in general to the $500 million capital improvement program has been overwhelming. Furthermore, in addition to securing these two prominent companies, we are further gratified that both transactions were a by-product of our successful and ongoing space consolidation plan."

According to Marcus & Millichap's 2008 National Office Report, New York City's office market remains among the strongest in the nation. Vacancy is expected to remain low, and rents are projected to grow at a healthy pace this year in Manhattan, although evidence will continue to mount that demand-side momentum is not as robust as it was a few quarters ago, the report notes. "Manhattan has recorded some of the nation's strongest revenue growth during the past three years, and investors' interest in local properties had hardly diminished as 2008 began." The report estimates that three million sf will be brought online in 2008.