Despite the clogged streets and the flood of desnudas, 4 Times Square hasn’t lost its mojo, maybe because its entrances are far from the maddening crowds.

“We are very active at 4 Times Square,” Douglas Durst told me. “We have great negotiations for the whole building.”

Durst has a mammoth 800,000 square feet available due to Condé Nast’s move to One World Trade Center and eventually, Skadden Arps’s relocation to One Manhattan West. But one broker warned, “The building is a low-cost stalking horse for the new towers, and no one wants to go there.” Oy.

Better for Durst, CoStar shows about 230,000 square feet in pending deals at his 1133 Avenue of the Americas, and we hear that ING, now in roughly 150,000 square feet at 1325 Avenue of the Americas, may be the tenant. The former IRS space can have its own entrance, signage and outdoor terrace.

Amazon was poised to sign here when it was swept away to 400,000 square feet at Vornado’s 7 W. 34th St. Durst is suing Amazon over that failed delivery.

Reps for ING and its CBRE brokers did not respond to requests for comment. When I asked Durst about that deal last week, he demurred, smiled coyly and exited stage left. Stay tuned.


L’Oréal will be moving its retail store and Redken 5th Avenue NYC training facility from 565 Fifth at 46th Street down to 404 Fifth.

The space has 1,000 square feet on the ground and a 9,000-square-foot second floor for training.

Andrew Goldberg and Preston Cannon of CBRE represented L’Oréal, while Winick Realty Group’s Lee Block, Hal Shapiro and CEO Jeff Winick worked with building owners Juda Chetrit and the Chetrit Group.

The building has an asking rent of $325 per square foot for a large adjacent space with 6,000 square feet on the ground with a 1,000-square-foot mezzanine and a lower level with a high ceiling.

Meanwhile, back at 565 Fifth, the L’Oréal and former Build-A-Bear spaces are being combined into a 31,600-square-foot store. This includes 7,433 square feet on the ground at an asking rent of $1,200 per square foot, a 14,150-square-foot lower level and 10,000 square feet on the second floor. It’s being marketed via Paul Berkman and Davie Berke of JLL.

As always, the second and lower levels have decidedly lower asking rents.


It isn’t in the Lipstick Building, but Cosmetic giant Shiseido is nearby at 900 Third Ave., where it has renewed and expanded to nearly 70,000 square feet.

The company now has 51,852 square feet on the sixth, ninth and 15th floors and has added the 17,343-square-foot 16th floor for a total of 69,195.

John Mambrino at Savills Studley worked for the tenant. The Paramount ownership is represented by the JLL team of Frank Doyle, David Kleiner and Clark Finney.

Asking rents are in the mid-$80s per foot.


The Seaport has signed Soho book haven McNally Jackson, which will open a new café, bar and bookstore on cobblestoned Schermerhorn Row in 2017.

“It is very magical and very beautiful,” said proprietor Sarah McNally, who often biked her way across the Brooklyn Bridge to hang out at the Seaport. The 1,000-square-foot café-bar on the ground floor will have outdoor seating while 9,000 square feet upstairs will be all about the books, and perhaps even a hidden speakeasy, McNally confided.

Seaport developer David Weinreb of Howard Hughes said, “We wanted to find an unrivaled literary experience to add to the rich culture of the Seaport.”

McNally was represented by Tungsten Property’s Jonathan Schley, who’s known for putting the Ace Hotel and NoMad on the vibe map.


Want buildings and apartments by the bucketful? Ron Solarz and Matthew Sparks of Eastern Consolidated are marketing a 14-building package in Upper Manhattan with 357 apartments, 10 local retailers and seven rooftop antennas. The total 229,945 square feet will set you back $109 million.

If that’s too much, you can buy the walk-ups at 88 E. 111th St. for $12.5 million; 316, 322 & 326 E. 117th St. for $17.5 million; 1661 Park Ave. for $12.05 million; 524 E. 119th St. for $10.2 million; 1469 Fifth Ave. for $10.75 million; 507 W. 134th St. for $6.5 million; 265-273 W. 146th St. for $23.5 million; or 545 W. 148th St. for $16 million.