One Bryant Park

Hedge fund HBK Investments, which last summer signed on for LEED Platinum hopeful Bank of America Tower’s 40th floor at $135 per square foot, has officially terminated its commitment for 12,000 square feet of that space. The Dallas-based firm will still retain 24,000 square feet on the 40th floor and the Dursts will now seek to lease the freshly freed space for an incredible $185 per square foot. The only space in the building that remains in addition to HBK’s former space is 30,000 square feet on the 37th floor, where the Dursts are asking the same rent; the family will consider partitioning either space into blocks for smaller tenants. According to Eric Engelhardt, one of Durst’s vice presidents for leasing, “[t]here is a greater universe of smaller tenants looking for high end space.”

Although the local real estate market has certainly cooled in the past few months, leasing activity at two of Midtown’s highest profile green commercial projects continues to remain hot. Marathon Asset Management, which agreed to pay $115 per square foot for the 38th and 39th floors at LEED Platinum hopeful Bank of America Tower in early 2007, recently agreed to a 5-year sublet for a portion of its space with Korean financial firm Mirae Asset for $150 per square foot. Although Marathon isn’t the only financial services firm that’s looked to shed space in light of current market conditions, it’s a good sign that demand is still strong for premium Class A space, though whether One Bryant Park’s green features are driving the significant lease premium is obviously pure speculation. Meanwhile, at LEED Gold hopeful, 350,000-square-foot 510 Madison Avenue, only one tenant has signed a lease, albeit at a whopping $150 per square foot.

Back in September, we noted a report in Crain’s that Al Gore’s investment firm, Generation Investment Management LLP, was looking for LEED-certified office space in New York City. Today, Generation announced that it has secured a 5,000-square-foot lease on the 48th floor of the Durst Organization’s Bank of America Tower, which expects to receive the [...]

I took a walk yesterday and checked in with 1 Bryant Park- Bank of America’s new 55-story headquarters that’s aiming for LEED Platinum. The 1,200 foot tower will become the second tallest building in New York (after the ESB) once it’s completed in 2009, and I’ve posted some photos that I took on Flickr; there [...]

Asking rents for the final two available floors at LEED Platinum hopeful One Bryant Park (Bank of America Tower) will start at an incredible $185 per square foot. (Image of developer Douglas Durst via NY Observer, note Verizon Building on left). The available floors are the 37th and 47th. According to Cushman & Wakefield, the [...]

It’s unclear whether Steve Cuozzo’s nickname will stick, but after an announcement last week, it looks like One Bryant Park won’t stand alone as New York City’s lone LEED Platinum office tower for very long. JP Morgan Chase will relocate its corporate headquarters to Ground Zero, on the site of the former Deutsche Bank Building [...]

According to Crain’s, the rest of the country is leaving New York State in the dust when it comes to the cleantech industry. Cleantech companies (manufacturers of any product or providers of any service furthering natural resource conservation) received $2.9 billion in venture capital in 2006, up 78% from 2005. However, from 1999 through 2005, [...]