NEW YORK CITY—Rockefeller Group has leased 138,000 square feet, the 15th through the 17th floors at 1271 Ave. of the Americas to Blank Rome. The Am Law 100 law firm will take possession of its new space in Q4 of 2018, relocating from the Chrysler Building in 2019.
Terms of the lease were not disclosed but according to someone with knowledge of the deal, the lease is for 15 years and asking rents for the available space in the building range from $90 to $125 per square foot. This latest deal brings 1271 Ave. of the Americas to approximately 60% leased.
“We established our New York presence in 2000 when we combined with Tenzer Greenblatt LLP, a firm with New York roots dating back to 1937,” Alan J. Hoffman, Blank Rome's chairman and managing partner tells GlobeSt.com. “With 150 attorneys, our New York office is one of our largest locations and has experienced sustained growth over the past two decades. This is a prime location for our clients and colleagues and provides us with an excellent opportunity to continue to grow and thrive in New York.”
Blank Rome has been in the Chrysler Building at 405 Lexington Ave. since 2000. In its prior space, the firm leased just under 129,000 square feet. Blank Rome has a total of 13 offices and more than 600 attorneys and principals.
The transaction brings the leasing total at 1271 Ave. of the Americas to more than 1.1 million square feet, since Rockefeller Group began a complete redevelopment of the building in 2016. Designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, the $600 million renovations include restoration of the lobby, replacement of the glass curtain wall, new elevators, plazas and building systems. The project is scheduled to be completed by Q1 2020.
When asked how the building competed against new construction, the source close to the transaction points to the structural steel exterior, which enabled virtually column free spaces and highly efficient floors. In addition, the building housed Time Inc. and was wired for modern technology, receiving a Platinum WiredScore rating for technology infrastructure.
Hoffman says, “We were seeking new space that would support our clients and our colleagues in regards to location, technology, amenities and opportunities for flexible expansion.”
The Blank Rome leasing team was led by Martin Luskin, Michael Mullman, Stuart Kaplan, Norman Heller and Henri Chalouh. Blank Rome was represented by CBRE's Ken Rapp, David Kleinhandler, Tim Dempsey and Zachary Weil. A CBRE team including Mary Ann Tighe, Howard Fiddle, John Maher, Dave Caperna, Evan Haskell and Sarah Pontius, and an in-house Rockefeller Group team including Ed Guiltinan and Jennifer Stein represented the owner landlord.
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Betsy Kim
Betsy Kim was the bureau chief, East Coast, and New York City reporter for Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. As a lawyer and journalist, Betsy has worked as the director of editorial and content for LexisNexis Lawyers.com, a TV/multi-media journalist for NBC and CBS affiliated TV stations in the Midwest, and an associate producer at Court TV.
