BXP's 250 West 55th Street May Be Back on Track

Lois Weiss reported today in the New York Post that Boston Properties' plans for LEED Gold 250 West 55th Street might soon be moving forward once again. According to Weiss, a source told her that "it's supposed to be a deep dark secret" that law firm Proskauer Rose is back negotiating for 500,000 square feet of space at the 38-story, SOM-designed tower. After the law firm backed out of a deal last month, Boston Properties suspended the project (pending completion of foundations) until the economy picked up again. The story got a great deal of play in the green commercial office market news both locally and nationally. Here at gbNYC, we noted the suspension in the context of Real Estate Weekly 's report that Proskauer had moved on and was negotiating with SJP Properties for space in LEED Gold hopeful 11 Times Square. We've been following 11 Times Square's pursuit of an anchor tenant for well over a year now and it's interesting that two LEED projects are fighting for the same firm for their survival, though perhaps not surprising given the lousy economy. One reason that pundits have given for 11 Times Square's inability to land an anchor tenant is SJP's refusal to back off asking rents in the low $100s. If Proskauer does indeed agree to terms with Boston Properties, we'll be curious to see at what discount, if any, from the asking rents at 11 Times Square and whether that compels any response from SJP.

• Midtown Tower May Be Revived (NYP)
• Proskauer at 11 Times Square (gbNYC)
• 250 West 55th Street (gbNYC)