NEW YORK CITY-The country’s largest property services union will be relocating its headquarters from Hudson Square into the Flatiron District, a move the union says will save nearly $20 million annually in rent. A spokesman for 32BJ SEIU tells GlobeSt.com the new 20-year lease at 620 Ave. of the Americas spans 245,000 square feet and two-and-a-quarter floors at the seven-story property.
Announced Monday, the signing marks the end of 32BJ’s search to find new headquarters space prior to the fall 2011 expiration of the current 20-year, 300,000-square-foot lease at Trinity Real Estate’s 101 Ave. of the Americas. The 101 Sixth Ave. deal was signed in 1991 at terms that exceeded current market rates, and provided more space than was needed, according to a release.
In March of 2009, Crain’s New York reported that the union was considering buying the 350,000-square-foot 72 Wall St., the smaller of the two adjacent office properties used as headquarters space by AIG. Both 72 Wall and 70 Pine St. eventually sold to a partnership of locally based Youngwoo & Associates and South Korea’s Kumho Investment Bank for $140 million.
The 620 Sixth space will house 32BJ’s union offices and its training, health care, pension and legal benefit funds, the release states. It’s being designed to include more shared work space and will seek LEED certification. The union has 120,000 members, including 70,000 based in New York City.
32BJ’s spokesman says Mark Weiss, vice chairman at Newmark Knight Frank, represented the union. Cushman & Wakefield’s vice chairman Mitchell Konsker and EVP Matthew Astrachan represented landlord CF 620 Owner One LLC in the transaction, the spokesman says.
The lower level and part of the second floor of 620 Sixth are given over to retail, with tenants including Bed Bath & Beyond, Filene’s Basement and TJ Maxx. Office tenants at the 700,000-square-foot property, which Jamestown Properties sold to the current ownership in 2005 for $280 million, include Hot Jobs, HOK Architects and Gap Inc.
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Paul Bubny
Paul Bubny is managing editor of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. He has been reporting on business since 1988 and on commercial real estate since 2007. He is based at ALM Real Estate Media Group's offices in New York City.
