The bet on Rockefeller Center is paying off for Scott Rechler of RXR.

We hear that Bank of America has a lease out at 75 Rockefeller Plaza for 200,000 square feet. The building is undergoing a massive $140 million renovation program to modernize the tower that was the former home of Time Warner and originally developed for Standard Oil. RXR purchased a 99-year lease on the building last year from Mohamed Al Fayed.

CBRE Chairman Bob Alexander is representing the bank, which has its headquarters at One Bryant Park, as well as space nearby at 114 W. 47th and 50 Rock.

Bruce Mosler, global head of brokerage for Cushman & Wakefield, is representing RXR. The parties all declined comment.

Back in January 2015, we told you that Rechler was oh-so-close to a $1 billion deal for 230 Park Ave. It closed Tuesday for $1.2 billion.

In big “starchitect” news, Renzo Piano has been hired by Michael Shvo and Bizzi & Partners to design his first residential tower in the US at 100 Varick St. Piano also designed the new Whitney Museum that just opened to raves in the Meatpacking District.

As we first told you, the 20,000-square-foot site was purchased in January 2014 for $130 million. The eight parcels, consisting of townhouses, vacant land and air rights, can host a 280,000- square-foot tower that will be designed by Piano as the tallest residential building in Soho, at 290 feet.

We hear HFF is leading the construction financing. The tower will likely include a gated private driveway as well as indoor automated parking, along with other amenities. The parties did not return requests for comments.

Bizzi and Shvo are also developing 125 Greenwich, which is a luxury condominium tower designed by Rafael Viñoly. It kicked off construction in January 2015. Shvo and Vlad Doronin teamed up with Jeff Sutton and Sandeep Mathrani of GGP in a $1.775 billion venture to redevelop the Crown Building at 730 Fifth Ave.

Pinterest is pinning itself to Bryant Park.

The fashion, furniture and craft photo-sharing site that was founded in Ben Silbermann’s apartment and now headquartered in San Francisco, will open its first city office at 475 Fifth Ave. in 32,000 square feet covering the entire 4th and 5th floors.

Sacha Zarba at CBRE represented the tenant while Frank Doyle, Doug Neye and Cynthia Wasserberger of JLL represented the building owned by TIAA-CREF, which has rents ranging from the upper $80s to more than $100 per square foot. The parties did not respond to requests for comment.

The building now includes hedge funds, but its largest tenant is Penske Media Group, which may have been Pinterest’s previous suitor — or even its newest. The Japanese company Muji has rented the retail space opposite the NYP Library’s lions.

In Nike news, Crain’s reported the athletic-wear giant signed a 147,000-square-foot office and store lease with the Durst Organization at the new 855 Sixth Ave., where it will move from the Google Building at 111 Eighth Ave. We told you on March 3 that Nike was yakking with Durst.

Back in December 2014, we told you Ben Ashkenazy and Michael Alpert’s Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation was buying the New York Marriott Hotel East Side from a fund managed by Morgan Stanley. On Friday, it closed the $270 million deal along with Germany-based Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH, which is also its partner in the retail at 522 Fifth Ave.

The international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright is leasing 107,215 square feet on part of the 28th and the full 29th through 31st floors at 1301 Ave. of the Americas. Now located at 666 Fifth Ave. they will move from their current digs at the end of 2016. Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Moshe Sukenik, Chris Mongeluzo and Lee Brodsky represented the tenant while NGKF colleagues Andrew Sachs, Timothy Gibson, Bill Levitsky and Ben Shapiro represented the Paramount Group ownership. Sixth Ave. corridor rents range from the high $60s to over $100 a foot.

Fashion firm J. Jill is finally reentering the city, this time in the heart of its customer base on the Upper West Side. The store leased 2,800 square feet at 160 Columbus Ave. Asking rents in the area range upwards from $300 per foot.

Richard Hodos and Dan Alessandro of CBRE represented J. Jill while Gene Spiegelman and Alisa Amsterdam of Cushman & Wakefield represented the Millennium Partners ownership.

 

There are 16 nominations for the Real Estate Board of New York’s 2014 Retail Deal of the Year Awards. The awards will be handed out at the 101 Club on June 9. For space we left off their ingenious titles and grouped from north to south:

Bottega Veneta at 740 Madison Ave. by James S. Downey, Eric Le Goff, Frank Liantonio, and Michael Rotchford of Cushman & Wakefield. Qela (Qatar Luxury Group) to 680 Madison by Richard Hodos of CBRE. The Trunk Club to the Villard Mansion at 457 Madison by Robert Bonicoro, Michael Kadosh and Paul Milunec of CBRE and the other side by Matthew Seigel of Thor Retail Advisors.

Fifth Avenue deals included Microsoft to 677 Fifth by Andrew Kahn and Jesse Hutcher of Cushman & Wakefield on one side and CBRE brokers Daniel Alessandro and Richard Hodos on the other. The NBA store to 545 Fifth by Barry Gosin, Jeffrey Roseman and Moshe Sukenik of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Retail.

Steinway to 1133 and 1155 Sixth Ave. by Richard Bernstein and Jared Thal of DTZ (formerly Cassidy Turley).

Creating a new retail district at Nos. 3 and 5 Bryant Park and 120 W. 42nd St. by Mark Kapnick, Matt J. Ogle, Patrick A. Smith, and Corey Zolcinski of SRS Real Estate Partners. The tenants included Whole Foods at 1095 Sixth Ave., aka 3 Bryant, by Jacqueline Klinger and Chase Welles of SCG-Retail.

Near Grand Central Terminal, the food hall Urban Space deal at 230 Park Ave. by Amira Yunis of CBRE. Along Ladies Mile, the Lowe’s deal at 635-641 Sixth Ave. by Gary Alterman and Robert K. Futterman of RKF.

Jared Epstein of Aurora Capital Associates was nominated for RH in the Meatpacking District at 9 Ninth Ave.

The other food nomination is Eataly’s deal at 4 World Trade Center done by David LaPierre of CBRE. We all hope they will start a build-out soon.

Two Brooklyn deals were also nominated. Neiman’s Last Call to 210 Joralemon St. by Robin Abrams and Howard Dolch of the Lansco Corporation and Bed Bath & Beyond to 850 Third Ave. in Brooklyn by Lon Rubackin of CBRE.