"We pretty much zeroed in on this opportunity" rather than consider other sites, Jeffrey Peck, corporate managing director of Studley, which represented the London-based fashion house, tells GlobeSt.com. "There are other buildings that will give you naming rights, but that's generally just a plaque over the entrance or some kind of lettering in the lobby. There's only a handful of buildings in the city that actually have lit signage atop the building." They include the MetLife tower at 200 Park Ave., the UBS building at 1285 Ave. of the Americas and 666 Fifth Ave.

Zoning restrictions dating from the 1980s prohibit illuminated signage on top of skyscrapers, aside from a few buildings that were grandfathered in, including 444 Madison. In a release, Studley EVP David Goldstein says the opportunity to display Burberry's logo in lights over Midtown was "a key driver in the transaction."

Peck says the new Burberry space, on four contiguous floors at 444 Madison, was previously occupied by New York magazine, which moved to 1 Hudson Square last year after a decade on Madison Avenue. New York magazine had its logo in lights atop the building, as did Newsweek magazine for three decades prior.