ADVERTISING agency Omnicom may be landing near the World Trade Center redevelopment at 100 Church St.
Over 650,000 feet of the 1.129 million square-foot, 1958 blue and silver building, owned by the Sapir Organization, have been languishing on the market.
Market whisperers say the structure still has single-pane windows, which would bump up overall energy costs, and some prospective tenants have turned up their noses at the renovated Church Street lobby and its Swarovski crystal chandelier.
The city Corporation Counsel has its headquarters at the building. The city’s Comptroller’s Office passed on the space even after it was bounced from its deal for space at 199 Water St. by the return to downtown of Aon.
About two months ago, Sapir switched horses from one powerhouse brokerage to another – from Cushman & Wakefield to CB Richard Ellis. Omnicom, as we advised here just a month ago, has been “advertising” for around 300,000 feet to consolidate out of buildings that include the Sapir-owned 11 Madison Ave.
Omnicom has been making the vacancy rounds with its long-time brokers Howard Wendy and Lee Feld of WF Realty. Feld came out of one of CBRE’s predecessor city companies, Edward S. Gordon Co., and still has relationships there.
“We’ve had a lot of activity recently,” confirmed Alex Sapir, president of the family company.
He declined to discuss any tenants or any possible deal other than to mention that a large architectural firm “actually did like” the chandelier. He also insisted he would listen to tenant suggestions on items such as the aesthetics, and that none has told him they passed on the building due to the older windows.
“We haven’t felt the need to do that yet,” he said of replacing the windows. He added they would be “flexible” about prospective tenants’ needs.
The Sapirs also hold the keys to one of the largest blocks of space left in the city, and like other property owners, are in the driver’s seat.
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At another Sapir building, 261 Madison Ave., Crowley Tar extended its 4,876-foot lease on the 14th floor by another four years. The 28-story building has 385,000 feet and is now nearly full with tenants, including Primedia, Target Health and AFTRA.
Ricky Kramer and Ken Kronstadt of Newmark Knight Frank worked for Crowley, which supplies organic chemicals made from petroleum and tar.
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Cushman & Wakefield data for April show the downtown vacancy rate has dropped below equilibrium. It’s at 6.7, down from 7.2 – dropping 0.5 percentage points in just 30 days.
