Gary Barnett‘s proposed 60-story skyscraper on W. 34th Street — cater-corner to the Javits Center — is apparently kaput. The anchor tenant for the 1.5-million-foot tower, the World Product Centre, was supposed to take 1 million square feet, but will take advantage of falling rents and lease 300,000 feet elsewhere.
The World Product Centre was proposed as a showcase for healthcare products. It boasted obtaining $100 million from Hewlett-Packard and commitments from a number of subtenants — but obviously not enough to fill the new building.
As we reported in 2007, WPC founder Israel Green signed a letter of intent for the 1 million feet. Barnett’s Extell Development had architects Kohn Pedersen Fox design a 1,011-foot-tall addition to the skyline; FX Fowle Architects was hired to design the WPC innards. The Greater New York Hospital Association has also been involved in the project as a “joint marketer.”
If he doesn’t end up in a court battle, Barnett might earn fees while developing or fitting out the alternate location.
A lease for 300,000 feet would fit 300 to 500 companies rather than the original scheme for 1,800.
“The advantages are we can deliver in 18 months and be considerably less expensive for our tenants,” WPC CEO John Strong told a Nashville newspaper.
Strong, Green, Barnett and the GNYHA did not return calls for comment. Neither did John Powers of CB Richard Ellis, who acted as broker for WPC on the original deal.
As recently as July, WPC bragged it would break ground in November. But the Department of Buildings has a Stop Work order on the site for working without permits in September. Not one permit has been obtained since early 2008 and those were for scaffolding. No “New Building” filing is under review.
Extell also owes an interest-only $60 million mortgage to New York Community Bank on the site that is due on July 1, 2010, but which documents say could be extended.
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The Realm Boutique will create a flagship at 98 Greene Street in SoHo. The boutique will carry European fashion designers including Jean-Claude Jitrois, Sabbia Rosa and Andrew Gn. Asking rent for the 15-year lease started at $300 per foot. The tenant was brought to the 3,500-foot multilevel space by Faith Hope Consolo and Joseph Aquino of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Retail Division. Susan Meisel of Meisel Realty worked for the building owners.
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The non-profit Anne Frank Center USA is seeking a sympathetic building owner from which to lease new exhibition, educational and office space.
The organization was formed to honor the memory of the young German girl whose diary recounts her time in a Dutch attic hiding from the Nazis. The book is one of the world’s best sellers.
The destination for tourists and school groups is now in a residential loft building at 38 Crosby St., but is searching Downtown for 3,000 feet in a first- or sec ond-floor retail space.
“We are looking for some visibility,” said Robert S. Shapiro of Grubb & Ellis, who is leading the search.
