Search
 

ESB Amasses Unprecedented 250,000-SF Block

NEW YORK CITY-The block on four of the office icon's lower floors is the outcome of a tenant consolidation program which has halved the property's roster.

By Paul Bubny | Updated on March 30, 2010

NEW YORK CITY-For what may be the first time in its 79-year history, the Empire State Building has an availability of more than 250,000 contiguous square feet. Most owners would attribute such a sizable block of office space to one or more tenants relocating or otherwise giving it back; to W&H Properties, it’s the sought-after outcome of a multi-year consolidation program at the Fifth Avenue landmark.

The initiative to attract larger tenants at the 2.8-million-square-foot 350 Fifth Ave. goes hand in hand with the $550-million Empire State ReBuilding program that W&H launched in 2006 to upgrade and reposition the property. It also goes against a tenancy profile that prevailed for much of the office icon’s eight-decade history, starting with its opening in 1931.

“Buildings go in cycles, and the Empire State Building was completed in the middle of a depression—not a recession, a depression,” William Cohen, who heads the leasing program at tells GlobeSt.com. “Hence, you had smaller tenants.” And so it remained for the ensuing decades: in a 1997 City Review profile of a book about the property, Carter Horsley observed, “To this day, major corporate tenants have generally evaded the Empire State Building, whose huge tenant roster includes mostly very small space-users.”

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Unlimited access to GlobeSt and other free ALM publications
  • Access to 15 years of GlobeSt archives
  • Your choice of GlobeSt digital newsletters and over 70 others from popular sister publications
  • 1 free article* every 30 days across the ALM subscription network
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM events and publications

*May exclude premium content
Already have an account?

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

GlobeSt

Join GlobeSt

Don't miss crucial news and insights you need to make informed commercial real estate decisions. Join GlobeSt.com now!

  • Free unlimited access to GlobeSt.com's trusted and independent team of experts who provide commercial real estate owners, investors, developers, brokers and finance professionals with comprehensive coverage, analysis and best practices necessary to innovate and build business.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM and GlobeSt events.
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including ThinkAdvisor.com and Law.com.

Already have an account? Sign In Now
Join GlobeSt

Copyright © 2024 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.