New York Post
As if taking a cue from the ABC television series 'Ugly Betty'--whose fictional fashion centric Meade Publications uses downtown as the B-Roll backdrop for its headquarters--the real life publisher of high fashion magazines like Elle, is reportedly shopping for space in the Wall Street area for when its lease ends in around 12 months.
"A lot of media companies are considering options outside of Midtown," says Alex Cohen, senior director at Cushman & Wakefield, who added the moves were driven by how high rents had gone in Midtown. "Of course, now, office rents are going down in Midtown," he tells Globe St.
And, nothing's set for Hachette at this point according to HFM-US spokesperson Anne Janas who told GlobeSt.com, the publisher "will consider all options, both Midtown or Downtown." She says, "There are no serious conversations with anyone at this point."
"I'm sure that 1633 will bend over backwards to keep Hachette and be as aggressive as possible," Cohen tells GlobeSt.com.
Another source later told GlobeSt.com that Hachette had started talking with the building owners--Paramount Group, Inc.--around 6 to 9 months ago. According to that source, Hachette and the owners were probably at around $70 a square foot. The source said that the Paramount would probably be willing to offer Hachette $50 a square foot. The Post reported Hachette's current yearly rent at 1633 to be $15 million.
With increasing market uncertainty and another 12 months to go before the lease expires for the six floors Hachette occupies, the source said of the potentially vacant future space "frankly, we don't even know how to price base floors."
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