The union that nearly brought a doorman strike last month is planning a move to a new headquarters.
The Service Employees International Union 32BJ announced Monday that it has signed a 245,000-square-foot, 20-year lease at 620 Avenue of the Americas, at 18th Street. The building, bought by the Chetrit Group in 2005 for $289 million, houses big-box retail along Sixth Ave, including TJ Maxx. (Interestingly, the Chetrit Group has had issues with using non-union labor.)
The lease is a large one, and probably not an expensive one given the location, although the rent was not disclosed.
The union was said to have been looking around at buying a building at the market’s nadir—it reportedly looked at an AIG-owned property downtown—though, in the end, apparently opted for another long-term lease.
Its current lease is at 101 Sixth Avenue, signed in 1991, and the union plans a move by late 2011.
Mark Weiss of Newmark Knight Frank represented 32BJ and Mitch Konsker and Matthew Astrachan of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord.
