News
THE AUDACITY OF W&H
February 9, 2009
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| The challenging economy hasn’t stopped W&H Properties from continuing $1.2B in capital improvements among its nine pre-war trophy Manhattan office buildings. We dropped in on SVP Fred Posniak and EVP Tom Durels at their 42nd Street office to find out how they could afford to be so audacious in this market. Easy: Tenants gravitate to stable landlords with sound financial footing in times like these, Tom (above) tells us. W&H is low-leveraged and well-capitalized to fund property improvements and leasing costs. |
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| The firm is moving forward with its $500M property upgrade of the Empire State Building, including lobbying repositioning and ceiling restoration, for late-spring delivery. Thefirst phase is 75% complete, including upgrades to the mechanical, electrical, HVAC, and elevator systems. Other upgrades in their portfolio include: 112 West 34th($80M); 250 West 57th ($82M); 501 Seventh ($53M); 60 East 42nd($85M); and their Broadway buildings: 1400 ($81M); 1333 ($71M);1350 ($53M); and 1359 ($54M). |
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| Fred notes that doing business with W&H does come with perks:100% commission payments to brokers on lease signings, free preliminary space designs for tenants, and on-site leasing agents at each property (no appointments required for showings). The result? W&H has more than 1M SF of leases out for signature, or proposals in negotiation. Last year saw 800k leased to tenants Coty, Skanska, and OCE USA, among others. |
