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NEW YORK CITY, October 15 - W&H Properties has awarded Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) the office leasing assignment for the world's most famous office building and the flagship of W&H Properties' eight-million-square-feet Pre-War Trophy Manhattan office portfolio.
William G. (Billy) Cohen, a principal of NKF, is the new director of office leasing. Billy Cohen took over the leasing assignment at One Grand Central Place earlier in 2009 with outstanding results, winning the nod for the Empire State Building assignment. NKF also leases 1333, 1350, 1359 and 1400 Broadway. NKF's relationship with W&H is directed by NKF President James D. (Jimmy) Kuhn. CBRE's Andrew Goldberg will continue to handle retail leasing at the international icon.
"The entire Newmark team understands our portfolio and has been critical to the success of the W&H brand," says Anthony E. Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings, which supervises the portfolio. "Under the direction of Jimmy Kuhn, they've done a great job, and I'm confident the new leasing team will continue to build upon the momentum of our $500-million-plus Empire State ReBuilding program, which already has transformed it into the world's premier Pre-War Trophy office center, with a distinguished international client roster."
Nearly 600,000 square feet have been leased to full, partial and multi-floor tenants since repositioning program began in January 2007. New full or multi-floor tenants include Switzerland-based Coty, the world's largest fragrance company; Skanska, the giant Swedish construction company; international architecture and interiors firms BBG-BBGM; Milan-based Funaro & Company, an accounting and consulting firm; Taylor, one of the largest independent public relations firms in the U.S., and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which is relocating from lower Manhattan. Numerous, new partial floor leases with new, quality credit tenants have also been concluded.
The Empire State Building has been consolidating its tenancy for the purpose of creating larger blocks of space to accommodate full and partial floor tenants of nearly all sizes. The program has reduced the number of tenants from 560 a few years ago to approximately 300 today.
Mr. Cohen, since taking over leasing operations at W&H's One Grand Central Place, has significantly accelerated the pace of new tenant arrivals while overseeing a vigorous tenant consolidation program. This year alone, five new full floor, quality credit tenants have been signed in the tower of One Grand Central Place, while more than a dozen mid-sized users have signed at the base of the building as well.
Mr. Cohen has been a principal at NKF for 23 years and a leasing broker in the New York area for 29 years. He has implemented successful leasing and marketing campaigns at such prestigious properties as Carnegie Hall Tower, CitySpire, Trump Tower and 645 Madison Avenue, and has played an instrumental role in brokering the sales of several prominent buildings, including 165 West 57th Street (the CAMI Building), 125 Park Avenue and 500 Fifth Avenue, to name a few.
A resident of Westport, Connecticut, Mr. Cohen holds a finance degree from the University of Miami. He is a board member of the Grand Central District Management Association, the Grand Central Partnership, the Bryant Park Management Corporation and the REBNY economic development committee, among other industry organizations. He frequently lectures at New York University's Real Estate Institute, Commercial Property World International Conferences and seminars hosted by the Real Estate Board of New York.
Two major events took place recently at the Empire State Building, attracting international attention. A restoration of its landmarked Art Deco lobby was completed, which included the recreation of a magnificent ceiling mural that had been hidden for several decades by a dropped ceiling. And the world's first comprehensive program to implement multi-component, performance-guaranteed, energy-efficient retrofit was launched there by a team of the Clinton Climate Initiative, Johnson Controls, Jones Lang LaSalle, and the Rocky Mountain Institute in the spring. The work at the building serves as the prototype for retrofitting commercial property around the world.
Other upgrades - planned and completed - include creation of a dedicated 34th Street tenant entrance, tenant messenger center, improvements to the building-wide systems, new restrooms, air-conditioned public corridors, and new, improved multi-layered security systems.
All 65 marble elevator cabs have been refurbished and the building's 6,500 windows have been replaced, increasing the Empire State Building's energy efficiency and earning it a coveted "Energy Star" designation.
The Empire State Building offers turnkey construction services for tenants, and pays 100 percent of brokerage commissions upon lease signing.
Soaring 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan, the Empire State Building is the World's Most Famous Office Building. With new investments in infrastructure, public areas and amenities totaling more than $500 million, the Empire State Building has attracted and continues to attract corporate tenants in a diverse array of industries from around the world.
Retail space at the building also has undergone a transformation, with a re-leasing program focused on providing a more comprehensive and higher level range of services. For example, Hospitality Holdings, which owns and operates The Campbell Apartment and six other famous high-end venues in Manhattan, recently leased a 3,400-square-foot ground-floor space, where it will open The Empire Room, an elegant, Art Deco-themed cocktail lounge. Three additional ground floor retail spaces are still available at the property, ranging from 463 to 1,500 square feet.
The Empire State Building is controlled by Empire State Building Company, a partnership of the Malkin family and the Helmsley estate, and it is part of the W&H Properties portfolio. For more information visit www.esbnyc.com.
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