Four Leases Close at 437 Madison Ave.

NEW YORK CITY—The William Kaufman Organization recently signed leases with four tenants at 437 Madison Ave., its 40-story, 850,000 square-foot office tower. The leases total approximately 30,000 square feet. Asking rents in the building range from $80 to $110 per square foot.

Built in 1967 by WKO, 437 Madison Ave. takes up the full block between E. 49th and E. 50th streets.

The largest of the four transactions is with ACT Commodities, Inc. The financial company, which has been housed in the building since fall 2016, is expanding its current space of 4,800 square feet by more than 8,000 square feet. Under a new 10-year lease, the firm will move to the 17th floor, occupying 12,945 square feet through 2028.

Landmark Partners will be moving into the building from its offices at 681 Fifth Ave., between W. 53rd and W. 54th streets. The private equity, real estate and real assets investment company specializing in secondary funds through a subsidiary, LMK Services Inc., finalized a 10-year lease for 7,779 square feet on the 39th floor. The firm, which has raised 30 funds that have been capitalized at more than $25 billion expects to relocate later this year.

Global cybersecurity company Darktrace, expanded its lease by an additional 5,903 square feet on the 32nd floor. It will be renting a total of 9,710 square feet. The firm is headquartered in Cambridge, UK and established its Manhattan location at 437 Madison Ave. in 2016.

Finally, longtime tenant Kenner & Company renewed its lease for 5,369 square feet on the 36th floor. The private equity firm has been in the building since summer 2012.

“Midtown East is continuing to show strength in 2018,” says Michael Lenchner, VP and director of leasing at Sage Realty Corporation, the leasing and management division of WKO. He adds 437 Madison Ave. is benefitting from a recently completed $60 million building-wide redevelopment. This included a redesigned lobby and arcade, a new plaza, renovated elevators, upgraded building systems and a 15th floor sky lounge with outdoor conference rooms and views of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. “This is an exciting time for our building and we look forward to advancing our successful leasing campaign this year,” he says. The building is now 92% occupied.

Lenchner represented building ownership for all four transactions, along with Jones Lang LaSalle brokers Frank Doyle, Cynthia Wasserberger, David Kleiner, Harlan Webster and Hayley Shoener. Gordon Ogden and Nick Gilman of Byrnam Wood LLC represented Landmark Partners. Savills Studley’s L. Craig Lemle and Nick Zarnin represented ACT Commodities. CBRE’s Joe Fabrizi represented Darktrace. There was no outside broker in the Kenner & Company transaction.

Sage Realty is currently marketing the tower’s top floors, which include approximately 11,310 square feet on the 39th floor and 19,089 square feet on the 40th floor.

437 Madison Ave. is owned by WKO in partnership with the Travelers Companies, Inc. Other tenants in the building include Munich RE, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, Citizens Bank, Omnicom Group Inc., Medallion Financial Corp., Kekst and Company and Carnegie Corporation of New York.