After a two-year-plus search for a new home — during which it was turned down by numerous property owners — the Gay Men’s Health Crisis will be moving and expanding to 166,000 square feet on two floors of 450 W. 33rd St. from over 140,000 square feet on 12 floors in Chelsea.
“There is no impact in terms of service delivery,” said Dr. Marjorie Hill, GMHC executive director and CEO. “We will be offering a full range of services except for HIV testing.” The group is still seeking 10,000 square feet for testing and prevention.
“So many owners rejected our use,” said Arthur Mirante, of Cushman & Wakefield, who led the brokerage search for GMHC. “I was surprised and disappointed in my real estate colleagues.”
The new deal is an eight-and-a-half-year sublet of the entire sixth floor and a portion of the seventh floor from WNET, which is also hunting for a new home. The West Side building owned by Broadway Partners currently houses the Associated Press, Coach and The Daily News.
Along with Mirante, the C&W team included Cari Lyon, John Peters, Bob Baraf and Mark Mandell along with the capital markets team.
WNET was represented in the sublease by Ira Schuman and David Dusek of Studley along with its own space search broker, Charles Borrock of C&W.
GMHC will have its own entrance on W. 33rd Street and a dedicated elevator.
While Mirante declined to discuss specifics, he said the deal ranks as one of the cheapest of the last 135 Manhattan leases over 40,000 square feet. Other sources said it starts in the high $20s per square foot.
GMHC board member David Valdez, who led the in-house search team, said that compared to renewing at 119 W. 24th St., the move will save the group $24 million over the life of the lease.