George Comfort & Sons Completes Large 15-Year Midtown Office Lease

NEW YORK CITY-  George Comfort & Sons, Inc., a commercial real estate investment firm, has completed a 15-year lease with Industrious at 135 West 50th St. in Midtown to premium workplace provider Industrious, which will also manage the Midtown tower’s brand new amenity center that is under construction. 

Industrious’ lease is variable with George Comfort for the 37,000-square-foot shared workspace the firm will occupy. With this structure, Industrious’ fixed-cost obligation is less than market value due to the revenue and profit-share component. In addition, the firm has signed a management agreement for the 20,000-square-foot amenity space.

The property is the newest location for Industrious, which has more than 90 locations in over 45 U.S. cities. As a tenant, the firm will seek to make its stamp on workplace amenities, which aligns with what George Comfort vision for the new amenity space at 135 West 50th St. dubbed “Club 135 by Industrious.”

“135 West 50th Street is being transformed into one of the most desirable buildings in Midtown and Industrious is proud to be working with George Comfort & Sons to further amenitize the property,” said Justin Stewart, president and co-founder of Industrious, in a prepared statement.  “Our number one mission is to provide an amazing workplace experience. We’re expanding our reach beyond traditional shared workplaces to manage tenant experience across whole buildings; we look forward to delivering a great day at work on a much larger scale with Club 135 by Industrious.”

Industrious shared workplace at 135 West 50th Street will total 37,000 square feet and offer amenities such as Wi-Fi, a fully-stocked cafe with breakfast served daily, and member networking events and programming; and access to its vast national network. It is expected to open Q3 2020.

Club 135 on the other hand, will total 20,000 square feet. Industrious will manage the space exclusive to only building tenants. The amenity center will feature a multipurpose room that can host events for up to 200 guests, collaborative workspaces and executive conference rooms, lounge areas with comfortable seating and an indoor/outdoor terrace overlooking West 50th Street, as well as a wellness facility with offerings such as yoga classes, meditation areas and stationary bikes.

Notable tenants at 135 West 50th St. include Mizuho Trust and Banking Co., Volunteers of America, and Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, Inc.  Recently, George Comfort announced that Mazars USA, which specializes in audit, tax, consulting, accounting and advisory services, signed a 90,000-square-foot lease to build new offices at the tower.  In November, an agreement was reached with Urbanspace, the team behind some of New York City’s most popular markets, to open a new food hall on the ground floor of the tower in 2020.