The clothing company Jay-Z co-founded, Rocawear, renewed its nearly 40,000-foot lease for the top of 1411 Broadway.
The entertainment mogul holds down the entire 38th and part of the 39th floor of the 40-story building, where asking rents are in the mid-$50 range.
A-list brokerage specialists Brian Waterman and Lance Korman of Newmark Knight Frank represented Jay-Z, also known as Sean Carter. The Cushman & Wakefield team headed by Paul Glickman worked for the building owners.
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The prestigious Municipal Art Society will move its headquarters to the Steinway Hall Building at 111 W. 57th St.
The nonprofit urban design group, which lobbies for planning and preservation, has worked out of the historical Villard Houses at the Palace Hotel for the last 25 years.
The new 10-year deal is for 12,749-feet — the entire 16th floor of the 17-story gold leaf-trimmed office building that is controlled by Steinway & Sons on a master lease through 2098.
The landmarked building was designed by Warren & Wetmore — the architects of Grand Central Terminal — and developed in 1925.
Coincidentally, Jackie Onassis worked with MAS to save Grand Central and enact preservation and landmarking laws. On Monday night, Peter Malkin and Robert A.M. Stern received awards in her name at the MAS annual dinner.
Carri Lyon of Cushman & Wakefield represented MAS, while Mark Lauzon of Cushman & Wakefield represented Steinway.
“There is an atelier with high ceilings and wonderful light from large windows that works very nicely for part of their offices,” said Lyon of the new MAS space, which has an asking rent in the low $50s a foot.
“The Economist is moving out to 730 Third Ave. in a sublease from Condé Nast and this building is being rejuvenated and attracting foundations and non-profits,” Lauzon noted.
Barry Sternlicht of Starwood nearly bought Steinway building for $225 million in 2007, planning to convert it to a hotel in conjunction with the empty former Ritz Thrift Shop lot next door, which Ceebraid Signal bought for $52 million in 2006. The Ceebraid property remains an empty lot.
Architecture firm Kohn Pederson Fox currently occupies the floor that MAS will take over, but is moving to Tishman Speyer’s 11 W. 42nd St.
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The UK-based Bell family is celebrating the 100th anniversary of 303 Fifth Ave. this week, with a new lobby and other renovations.
Developed by Henry Corn in 1909 based on a design by Buchman & Fox, the building ended up foreclosed in 1913.
Nicholas Bell, who now owns the 160,000-foot building with his brother Robert and three sisters, said their grandfather, Dr. William Bell, had invested in Western railways and then a steam car plant that went belly-up. In payment Bell took the land at Philipse Manor in Sleepy Hollow, part of which later became the GM plant.
On a train in 1914, Bell sat next to Campbell Carrington, a bondholder who had foreclosed on 303 Fifth but didn’t want to own the 20-story of fice. The two swapped deals, with Bell paying cash and assuming mortgages totaling $2.2 million for 303 Fifth.
Current tenant Andre Soluri, an architect, oversaw recent renovations in cluding the restoration of the lobby with its “lovely, ornate plaster ceiling.” According to CoStar data, 28,925 feet is available in suites from 200 to 5,000 feet with an average asking rent of $38.27 per foot.
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Aini Assets paid $29.5 million in cash yesterday for the 12-story 63 W. 38th St. (a.k.a. 62 W. 29th St.).
The company will add six floors and turn it into a boutique hotel with a rooftop club.
The father/son team of Marty and Eric Meyer of FirstService Williams marketed the deal.
