By Guelda Voien 9/13/11 1:28pm

office space

Tara Stacom of Cushman & Wakefield.

The Fall Season in Downtown

“I’m more bullish today than I was in 2007,” said Cushman & Wakefield’s Tara Stacom of  1 World Trade and the outlook for the 1,776-foot tower that will offer 3.1 million square feet of Class A office space. “I did not think one of the first tenants would be a million-plus feet.”

Signing the lease with Condé Nast in May of this year was, for lack of a less hackneyed term, a game-changer for downtown Manhattan, especially as the area emerges not only from the Great Recession but from the malaise that characterized so much of the area since 9/11. Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 8/16/11 10:49am

lease beat

Ta-da!

Tata Expansion, Renewal in Kalikow’s 101 Park

Tata Consultancy Services, which provides IT and outsourcing to a nationwide clientele, has signed an early renewal and expansion lease at its U.S. headquarters on Park Avenue, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The company, which is part of the Tata Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates, arranged a 13,200-square-foot deal at 101 Park Avenue, where it has operated on the 26th floor for more than 20 years. The deal, which reflects an asking rent of $100 per square foot, will expand Tata’s office space from 10,238 square feet, brokers said. Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 8/16/11 9:12am

power broker

Mr. Bernstein joined Colliers ABR, the precursor to Cassidy Turley, in 2007.

The Accidental Journeyman

When it was announced in early 2007 that the Empire State Building would undertake an ambitious, $550 million renovation—the first of such grandeur since it was erected 76 years earlier—real estate observers stood divided on whether the effort was long overdue or, considering the looming economic crises, an unnecessarily expensive bet.

Given the 102-story tower’s 2.5 million square feet—not to mention its aging infrastructure, elevators and lobby—naysayers had reason to doubt the logic behind such a costly affair. Add to those challenges a mandate to replace the building’s jigsaw puzzle of 550 fractious users with a collection of far more prestigious, full-floor tenants and the endeavor seemed positively Sisyphean to some. Read More

By Tom Acitelli 8/12/11 11:44am

Commercial Stat of the Week

Financial Jobs vs Vacancy Rate_(080411)

The Financial Sector and the Manhattan Office Market

How do they get along, exactly? Robert Sammons of Cassidy Turley breaks it down.

New York City and the financial services industry are thought to be B.F.F.’s (“best friends forever,” for those not in the know). The accompanying graph does, indeed, show the correlation between financial services jobs (banking, securities and insurance) and the Manhattan Class A vacancy rate. For the most part, the two statistics do follow the expected pattern: as financial jobs fall, the vacancy rate rises, and vice versa. But there are also some interesting variations worth pointing out. Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 8/11/11 9:20am

lease beat

(Photo: Loopnet)

Nonprofit Growing in Newmark’s 505 Eighth

Cicatelli Associates, a public health nonprofit that uses education and research to foster healthful living, has signed a long-term renewal and expansion at the Newmark Holdings-owned 505 Eighth Avenue. Under the new deal, the group, which previously occupied part of the second floor, as well as all of the 16th and 20th will vacate its space on the second in exchange for the entire 19th, brokers involved with the deal told The Commercial Observer. Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 8/11/11 9:11am

lease beat

(Photo: Trinity)

American Idol Producer to Move Into Trinity Church’s 435 Hudson

FremantleMedia, among the largest producers of reality television brands in the world, including American Idol, America’s Got Talent and loads of other shows your kids watch, has signed an 8,000-square-foot lease at 435 Hudson Street. The group will occupy part of the fourth floor of the building, in part to consolidate all of its operations under one roof. In October, the group acquired a 60 percent share of @radical.media, a global media business that is also housed at the Trinity Real Estate-owned building. FremantleMedia is expected to relocate later this year after the space is renovated. Read More

By Tom Acitelli 8/04/11 5:00pm

Commercial Stat of the Week

Midtown Direct Availability_(072911)

Whither Midtown Class A?

Robert Sammons of Cassidy Turley on where midtown Class A availability is headed:

Direct availability for the midtown Class A segment fell to just under 11.9 million square feet in July, its lowest level since January 2009, when it registered 11.4 million square feet and was on its way up.  During the recent downturn, it reached a March 2010 high of 15.1 million square feet. Read More