NEW YORK CITY-Colorful costumes, booming drums and a dancing dragon isn’t the typical scenery for a Monday morning on Wall Street – but a new tenant inside the Trump Building is bringing a little bit of Beijing to the building. Celebrating the opening of its first US office in conjunction with China National Day, the China Investment Federation cut the ribbon on its new 10,000-square-foot space on the 52nd floor of 40 Wall St. on Monday morning.

Company officials and members of the real estate community gathered inside the landmark 72-story skyscraper for a traditional Chinese breakfast, toasts and a special performance of the lion dance inside the raw space.




CIF, an investment institution focused on platforms for joining private capital from with global markets, plans to use the space for meetings and expanding its American-based operations. “It really needed to be a Wall Street address and we wanted an iconic space,” said Jay Riskind, managing director of global projects at CIF, in an interview with GlobeSt.com during the ribbon cutting. “We wanted a place for the Chinese to call home on Wall Street. It’s the tallest building [on the block] and has a view of the Statue of Liberty, and I think all of those things were really compelling.”

The deal – arranged by DTZ, a UGL Company – marked the final day of US-China Investment Week, co-hosted by CIF, PiYi Investment, the Council of American States in China and law firm SNR Denton. The program – spanning cities from Washington DC to Portland – brought in over 50 Chinese private investors around the US to meet with over 100 US investment opportunities in targeted sectors, ranging from real estate, biotechnology, agricultural technology, new energy and culture/entertainment.

Given the establishment of CIF’s first flagship office in the United States, Riskind said the company is raising a $3-5 billion real estate fund over the course of four years, which will translate to roughly $1 billion per year in total investment. He noted that in addition to Manhattan, CIF is looking at opening new offices in London, Hong Kong and other major global metros.

The company’s new Wall Street space will be built-out in-house by Trump using architect, Michael Calamari. Riskind said CIF is expected to occupy the building by February 2013, just in-time for Chinese New Year.

Chase MacLeod, Chris Helgesen and David Starr of DTZ/UGL, represented CIF on the deal. Michael E. Zolandz, Andy Weiner and Gary Goodman, partners at SNR Denton, provided legal representation for CIF on the transaction. Asking rents were between $40 and $50 per square foot.

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