NEW YORK CITY—Now that companies are hiring, just as a host of new, state-of-the-art large-scale space is coming online, there could be a plethora of firms looking to move into upgraded bigger digs in the near future.
And in the competition among developers building multiple projects around town, one firm may win the race for one simple reason: its buildings are slated to be the first ones ready for delivery.
“If you're a large tenant, you're going to look at the World Trade Center (Silverstein Properties); Brookfield Place, Manhattan West (both created by Brookfield Office Properties) or Hudson Yards (the Related Cos.),” noted Mitch Rudin, president and CEO, Brookfield Office Properties, during a recent talk in Midtown hosted by B'nai B'rith's real estate division.
And Brookfield is poised to be the first one out of the starting gate, he said. The firm's most anticipated development, Brookfield Place, will debut its dining terrace, which is slated to feature 14 eateries, as soon as next month, he said.
Soon after, in the fall, Le District Marketplace—which is, as Rudin described it, “a French-themed Eataly”—will open at the 8.5 million-square-foot complex. Meanwhile, construction on the platform for Manhattan West is well under way and will be done by year-end.
Slated to open in 2016, Five Manhattan West (formerly the much maligned 450 W. 33rd St.) promises not to feature “a sea of columns,” Rudin said, with those that will be in the building expected to sit 25 feet apart. Brookfield also is considering building a breezeway between the tower and the High Line that would include retail stores. Progress is taking place at the building, where “we expect to sign a lease with a key office tenant by year-end.”
Leasing has been stellar at One New York Plaza, with 480,000 square feet having been booked at the building in 2013 and 2014, thus far, including Revlon's lease for over 91,000 square feet of space. Most of the World Trade Center and Hudson Yards are slated for delivery in later years.
The timing, along with the location of Brookfield's projects, could put the company well ahead of its counterparts, noted Greg Kraut, principal and managing director, Avison Young and board member of B'nai B'rith.
“We did a study which showed that, last year at this time, there were 100 blocks of 100,000 square feet of space available, then it shrank to 68 and then 63 throughout 2013 and now that number is at 58,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “So large blocks of space are dwindling and a lot of other buildings aren't up until 2019/2020, giving Brookfield a strategic advantage,” he said.
The company's timing also is fortuitous, Kraut said. “Except for financial services firms, everybody is moving. For the first time in a long while, we're seeing companies look to move and spend capital. And once the latter starts doing well and adding jobs especially, that industry is going to have the same mindset.”
Brookfield's Manhattan West, along with portions of the Hudson Yards re-zoning district, will have much to offer tenants, asserted Kraut. “The real benefits of Manhattan West are that it's walking distance to Penn Station and Brookfield is a great, institutional-quality landlord.” Nearby, 3 Hudson Blvd., which sits in the Hudson Yards area “is just two stops away from Grand Central Station on the 7 train, plus Hudson Square Park is right there. I think it's the best building in the area.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
