A law firm’s short stroll around the corner marks a giant leap forward for Midtown’s rising super-skyscraper.
Greenberg Traurig, now based at the MetLife Building, has signed a major lease to move to SL Green’s 1401-foot-tall office tower that’s going up on East 42nd Street next to Grand Central Terminal.
On Thursday, the companies announced the 15-year done deal for four contiguous floors, after the news was first reported on nypost.com.
The exact square footage wasn’t clear, but sources estimated it at 130,000 to 140,000 square feet.
The legal eagles occupy 200,000 square feet at MetLife under a lease that expires in 2021. One Vanderbilt is scheduled to open in 2020.
Terms of the deal were not available.
A lease signed by Germany’s DZ and DVB banks in September for a combined 35,000 square feet at One Vanderbilt was said by sources at the time to have an asking rent of $135 per square foot.
Newmark Knight Frank heavy-hitters Barry Gosin and Moshe Sukenik represented Greenberg Traurig.
Greenberg Traurig Executive Chairman Richard A. Rosenbaum said in a statement that the firm’s new Manhattan headquarters at One Vanderbilt will function “in concert with a combination of alternative nearby locations to create an office campus.”
SL Green CEO Marc Holliday said the firm “could have gone anywhere in New York and made a major statement by choosing to stay in East Midtown.”
The move, in fact, is a badly needed victory for the district, which has recently seen many large tenants move to new, modern buildings on the West Side and Downtown. East Midtown’s mostly antiquated buildings by comparison are an average of 70 years old.
Greenberg Traurig’s decision is also particularly meaningful for One Vanderbilt, which won’t finish construction for 2 ¹/₂ years.
Although most of the $3.1 billion tower’s 1.7 million square feet are still up for grabs, the advance commitment by one of the nation’s largest law firms is a major boost for the project.
Previously signed tenants at One Vanderbilt are TD Bank for 200,000 square feet and Daniel Boulud’s restaurant company for an 11,000-square-foot dining complex.
Taller than any nearby tower, One Vanderbilt will cut a new, iconic profile on the Midtown skyline.
It will boast floor-to-ceiling heights of up to 24 feet and offer tenants spectacular views.
One Vanderbilt, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, broke ground in 2016 after a long negotiation between SL Green and city and MTA officials.
SL Green is paying $220 million for transit and pedestrian improvements beneath and around the tower, under terms of a 2014 Vanderbilt Avenue rezoning that presaged a comprehensive rezoning of 77 blocks in the East Midtown district.
Other major firms reported to have “kicked the tires” at One Vanderbilt include Carlyle Group and JPMorgan Chase. The status of any negotiations is unknown.