German bank doubles space in Midtown West tower

Steve Cuozzo, New York Post

In what might be a bellwether for the prime Sixth Avenue office corridor, Berenberg Capital Markets has extended its lease at Mitsui Fudosan America’s 1251 Sixth Ave., and expanded on the tower’s top two floors.

The firm, a tenant of the building since 2017, added 30,700 square feet on the 53d floor of the office tower located between West 49th and 50th streets, bringing its space there to 62,400 square feet.

The 15-year leases wouldn’t make a huge splash in pre-pandemic times. But in 2021, with availability at an all-time high,any growth is noteworthy.

The German investment bank’s managing partner, Hendrik Riehmer, said that thanks to demand, “we were able to expand our business faster than planned, especially in equity research, sales and trading and equity capital markets.”

The deals were brokered by JLL’s Mitchell Konsker, Alexander Chudnoff and Benjamin Bass for Berenberg and by Newmark’s David Falk and Peter Shimkin for Mitsui Fudosan America.

“Think of it — a major tenant doubling its space during the pandemic,” Bass said.
It allows the firm to “accommodate its fantastic growth in the city and its ability to continue to recruit top talent and maintain an ideal corporate culture.”

Terms were not released. Midtown sources said the expansion lease was done in the $90s per square foot.

The 2.4-million-square-foot tower is more than 98 percent leased.
————————————-
Who would start construction on a new, a 100-percent speculative office tower now, when Manhattan vacancy is at a historic high and only 20 percent of offices are actually occupied? Hudson Square Properties, that’s who — a joint venture of Trinity Wall Street, Hines and Norges Bank.

On Wednesday, the partners will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for 555 Greenwich St., a 16-story, 270,000-square-foot project that aims to be the city’s “greenest and healthiest” location for tenants yet to be signed.

The building, designed by COOKFOX Architects, will connect “seamlessly,” its Web site says, with adjacent 345 Hudson St., part of Hudson Square Properties’ neighborhood campus.

The facade will boast setbacks with outdoor terraces and floor-to-ceiling windows.

No one on the development team would discuss the project, but our sources said the building might be finished as early as the fourth quarter of 2022. By then, the leasing market will hopefully be picking up steam.

The tower will be Hudson Square Properties’ 12th building in the area, which has become a hub for creative industry and tech tenants.