Li & Fung, the Hong Kong-based global middleman for manufacturers and retailers, will take over nearly 490,000 square feet in the Empire State Building, The Post has learned.
The leasing deal, which was signed yesterday and has been under negotiation since last spring, is the largest of the new year and would have also topped last year’s leader board.
Sources said the long-term pact will encompass several floors in the base of the building, which according to CoStar Group data has asking rents ranging from the mid-$40s a square foot to the high $50s.
Anthony Malkin, president of W&H Properties, which owns the Empire State Building, declined to comment as did Li & Fung.
Li & Fung already leases large blocks in Malkin’s 1333 Broadway and 1359 Broadway. Sources said those will not be affected by the new deal.
The fourth-generation family trading company supplies imported fashion items to top retailers, and in the US is buying up companies and licensing others like Sean John.
Mitchell Konsker and Alexander Chudnoff, who left Cushman & Wakefield yesterday for Jones Lang LaSalle [see story at left], represented Li & Fung. The Empire State Building was represented by William Cohen and Ryan Kass of Newmark Knight Frank.
The building is undergoing a major modernization, restoration and energy-efficiency upgrade. After a new contract with Green Mountain Energy Co., it becomes the largest 100-percent wind power commercial user in the city.
Malkin has also made a concerted effort to create large blocks for major tenants, including the FDIC and Coty.
According to sources, other tenants are tire-kicking blocks of 400,000 and 200,000 square feet.
