Simpson Thacher Taking Nearly 1M SF On Fifth Avenue: The N.Y. Deal Sheet
Law firm Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett signed Manhattan's largest office lease in May, taking most of the space in Extell Development’s planned Midtown office tower.
The law firm took 916K SF at Gary Barnett's 570 Fifth Ave., a 29-story office and retail tower under construction, according to a lease agreement filed in the New York City Register.
The deal is roughly 200K SF bigger than what the law firm was reportedly discussing last year at the building, which is partially owned by the investing arm of Ikea's parent company and where the Swedish furniture giant plans to open an 80K SF store.
CBRE brokered the deal, Commercial Observer reported. Simpson Thacher, Extell and CBRE did not respond to requests for comment.
Simpson Thacher’s deal was half a million square feet larger than the next-biggest lease signed last month, Google’s 410K SF renewal at Jack Resnick & Sons’ 315 Hudson St., according to a monthly Manhattan office report from Colliers.
The lease comes as Gary Barnett's firm kicks off work to build the skyscraper, which involved piecing together an assemblage made up of more than a dozen properties. It is expected to deliver in 2028.
Extell refinanced the project in March with a $417M loan from JPMorgan Chase, The Real Deal reported.
TOP LEASES
Brooklyn Defender Services signed a 212K SF, 31-year lease for the remainder of the office space at Tishman Speyer’s office development over the Macy's store in Downtown Brooklyn. The 617K SF, 10-story property known as The Wheeler is now fully leased, the landlord announced. St. Francis College and Brooklyn Prospect are the other tenants in the building.
Megan Sheehan represented Tishman Speyer in-house alongside CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe, Joseph Cirone, Masha Dudelzak, Zachary Price and Gerry Miovski. Newmark’s Jonathan Franzel and Ryan Gessin represented BDS, which is consolidating offices across the borough — including its main office at 177 Livingston St. — into the tower.
***
Centerbridge Partners inked a 76K SF lease at Rudin’s 1.9M SF office tower at 345 Park Ave., according to a release. The investment manager will relocate from its 47K SF space at 375 Park Ave. to the 22nd and 23rd floors of the 44-story tower for a 15-year period, moving in during Q2 2027. Centerbridge is taking over space formerly occupied by KPMG, Crain’s New York Business reported.
***
The commercial component of Witkoff and Access Real Estate’s One High Line has been fully leased to one tenant. Membership-based preventive healthcare practice Atria Health Institute signed a 52K SF deal for the five-story space connecting the luxury development’s east and west towers. The facility, expected to open in 2027, will be Atria’s second in New York following the 57K SF space it opened in 2022 at 432 Park Ave.
***
Ambassador Theatre Group took 19K SF at GFP Real Estate’s 630 Ninth Ave. in a long-term lease extension that more than doubled its footprint in the 13-story, 275K SF building. CBRE’s Rocco Laginestra represented ATG, and GFP’s Matthew Mandell represented the landlord in-house.
***
Law firm Taft is opening a New York office, signing a 17K SF lease at the Durst Organization’s 1155 Sixth Ave., according to a release. The firm, which has more than 1,250 attorneys in 25 offices, plans to grow its New York headcount to more than 100 over the next five years. Other tenants in the 42-story tower include Perkins Coie, TransUnion and Global Relay. Tom Bow, Rocco Romeo and Nora Caliban represented the landlord in-house, while Colliers’ Sheena Gohil, Andrew Urban and Jack Senske represented Taft.
TOP SALES
Jade Century Properties acquired the 23K SF building at 47-15 34th Ave. in Astoria for $31M for a likely development on the site of the single-story retail center, PincusCo reported. The sellers were Mi Song Park and Ashley Cho. Jade Century firm has three residential properties in Queens, according to its website.
***
Extell Development acquired 165 E. 56th St. from the American Jewish Committee for $39M, according to a deed filed with the city. AJC owned the property for more than 65 years, but it now plans to move its offices to a different location nearby as Extell assembles a site for a massive project on Park Avenue. CBRE’s Daniel Kaplan, Doug Middleton and Justin Arzi represented AJC.
***
Alchemy Properties paid $57M to the Calicchio family for a vacant, five-story Tribeca parking garage, Commercial Observer reported. The family has owned the 60 N. Moore St. property since the 1980s. Alchemy is partnering with Daishin America and Takamatsu Construction Group USA to execute plans to redevelop the property into a luxury condo building.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Quantum Pacific Realty and MetroLoft scored a $169.5M construction loan to convert the 282K SF office building at 767 Third Ave. into a 337-unit residential building with 68K SF of retail space. BHI, the U.S branch of Tel Aviv-based Bank Hapoalim, provided the financing.
***
Rockrose Development landed a $404M mortgage for its 479-unit luxury West Village residential building at 666 Greenwich St., with Freddie Mac providing the financing through PNC Bank as seller-servicer. The landmarked, 11-story, full-block property was built in 1899 and was previously home to the U.S. Appraiser’s Warehouse, according to Rockrose’s website. Avison Young’s Scott Singer, Andy Singer, Kevin Swartz and Kathleen McSharry arranged the financing for Rockrose, alongside the developer’s Richard Brancato and Jim Lerro. PNC’s Sean Gorman and Tom Podgorski led negotiations for the lender.
***
S3 Capital originated a $131.5M construction loan to Edge Property Group for a Washington Heights student housing project at 465 W. 165th St., Commercial Observer reported. The property will contain 321 beds in 276 units. Institutional Property Advisors’ Max Herzog and Eric Toddy led the team that negotiated the financing.
***
Beitel Group borrowed $175M from Varde Partners to refinance a 452-unit Mott Haven building at 120 E. 144th St., PincusCo reported. The financing replaces a $150M sum from Slate Property Group affiliate Scale Lending.
***
Ares Capital Management lent $86.2M to Slate Property Group and Avenue Realty Capital to refinance the developers' Dutch House apartment project in Long Island City. The 186-unit building at 37-05 30th St. was delivered in 2022. Ares' loan replaces an $85M mortgage provided by PCCP in 2023. Walker & Dunlop's Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Dustin Stolly, Keith Kurland, Adam Schwartz and Sean Bastian arranged both loans.
