In early February, we noted an interview that SJP Properties’ Stephen Pozycki gave to Real Estate Weekly about progress at LEED Gold hopeful 11 Times Square, which is currently under construction at the corner of 42nd Street and 8th Avenue. “Tenants will come,” Pozycki said at the time, while also expressing his expectation that the tower would be half-leased come summer. Despite the softening market, it appears that Mr. Pozycki’s prediction may prove prescient, as Real Estate Weekly reported this week that the French bank Natixis is considering up to 250,000 square feet at 11 Times Square. The bank is apparently conducting test fit-outs but has yet to commit to occupying space at the tower. Natixis currently leases space in a number of Midtown trophy buildings- including 9 West 57th Street and 1350 Avenue of the Americas- that it wants to consolidate into one similarly prestigious space- LEED Gold, even on 8th Avenue, appears to meet that litmus test.
March 20th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | ContinuedBeer Belly Building
Green Building in Crisis? Bear Stearns Meltdown May Drown Beer Belly Building
Late yesterday, Crain’s reported that JPMorgan Chase will move its investment banking operations into the former offices of Bear Stearns on Madison Avenue at 47th Street in Midtown, which JPMorgan purchased on Monday in the aftermath of Bear’s meltdown last week. The decision places the proposed LEED Platinum Beer Belly Building project at 5 World Trade Center in jeopardy- if not completely shelving it- though according to a spokesman the bank is still considering its options in connection with the site. Crain’s also reports that JPMorgan will continue negotiating with the Port Authority about building at 5 WTC, but the same spokesman “couldn’t say what might be built . . . or when a decision would be reached.”
March 18th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 2 comments | Continued
KPF on the Move to Tishman Speyer’s 11 West 42nd Street
Kohn Pederson Fox, architects of the future LEED Platinum Beer Belly Building headquarters of JPMorganChase at the World Trade Center site, as well as LEED Gold-certified Court Square Two in Long Island City, is moving its offices from 111 West 57th Street south to Tishman Speyer’s 11 West 42nd Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues. The firm has inked a long-term deal for 65,000 square feet across the tower’s 8th, 9th, and 18th floors, where asking rents were in the neighborhood of $67 per square foot. The 32-story building, which was originally called the Salmon Tower, was built back in 1927 and originally designed by architects York & Sawyer.
March 5th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Deutsche Bank Demo to Resume; JPMorgan Still Hopes for Platinum Beer Belly Building to Rise at 5 WTC by September
On Tuesday, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (“LMDC”) announced that it reached an agreement with its construction manager, Bovis Lend Lease, to hire a new subcontractor that will complete demolition efforts at the former Deutsche Bank Building on 130 Liberty Street. Work at the site has stalled for close to five months now in the [...]
January 10th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Green Rising on the Downtown Horizon: Excavation for LEED Gold WTC Towers to Wrap Up by End of January
As we wrote about back in September, Silverstein Properties’ three LEED Gold towers planned for the former World Trade Center site are on the verge of climbing out of Greenwich Street. Today, GlobeSt.com reported that the year-long excavation work for the foundations of Towers 3 and 4 are currently within a few weeks of being [...]
January 2nd, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued