“Over time, the original developer’s strategy didn’t come to fruition,” he says. However, in 2009, Pembrook assumed control of the day-to-day operations at the site and took full ownership in 2010. “This is how you take a bad situation and turn it into a very good real estate transaction.”

After taking over, Pembrook implemented a capital improvement plan for the buildings, which involved putting in new signage, fixing the facades and renovating the lobbies. “We picked up where they left off,” Boesky says. “We basically took a class C building to a class B+ building. If you look at the building today, the spaces are incredible,” he says, noting the views up and down the High Line. “We created an environment where people want to be.”

As a result of the improvements, 42 leases totaling 125,000 square feet were signed over a 24-month period, bringing total occupancy up to 90% from its previous rate of 45%, Broesky says.

“We took over a project that was struggling,” he says. “At this point, the leasing velocity is tremendous. The building has a really strong identity.”

The current tenant mix includes green auto company Telsa Motors, tech firm Worldwide Digital Media, and fashion public relations firm Bismark Phillips. “You have technology, fashion, media and art all in one spot,” Boesky says, noting that asking rents range in the mid $40s to low $50s per square foot. “There’s lots of diversity, but it is all based around this creative concept. Everybody there is sort of synergistic to one another. It creates an identity for the building that is extremely positive.”

Darcy Stacom of CBRE represented Pembrook on the transaction.