When British entrepreneur Charles Denton told WWD last week he was “relaunching” the Erno Laszlo beauty products brand, he left out an important fact:
The 85-year-old line, founded by a Hungarian immigrant to the US in the late 1930s, will soon open its first “Institute” — a spa — in decades. The company just signed a 10-year netlease for the entire, 10,000-square-foot building at 382 W. Broadway, between Broome and Spring streets.
The deal for the vacant two-level SoHo space was arranged by Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Faith Hope Consolo and Joseph Aquino. The 10-year, eight-month lease is worth $1.5 million per year.
The Laszlo line is now owned by Denton’s privately held RBS Equity Finance, which bought it last February. WWD estimated annual sales at about $30 million worldwide.
Laszlo once upon a time had a members-only spa on Fifth Avenue in Midtown that catered to stars like Greta Garbo and Marilyn Monroe.
But in recent decades, its skin-care products have been sold in department and specialty stores. Its fans are said to include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Alba and Madonna.
“The brand has had sections in many of the finest department stores for decades, but a dedicated center downtown provides a special environment,” Consolo said.
The 382 West Broadway building is owned by Kamran Hakim and Henry Hay. The new spa is expected to open early next year.
***
Big deal on the line: We hear there’s a 90,000 square-foot lease out for DG Fast Channel at Paramount’s 1633 Broadway. The 2.4 million square-foot tower’s tenants include Allianz Global Investors and Bank of America.
DG Fast Channel is now based at 3 Times Square. It wasn’t known if a deal at 1633 Broadway would be an expansion or a relocation or both.
Paramount’s rep at 1633, CB Richard Ellis’s Stephen Siegel, declined to comment.
***
Young women’s fashion designer Jen Kao has signed a 10-year lease for 9,715 square feet of office and showroom space at Trinity Real Estate’s 10 Hudson Square, or 160 Varick St. The rent is $45 per square foot.
Savitt Partners’ Michael Schoen, who repped the tenant, said Kao wanted a building with “stunning views and a large-floor layout.”
Jason Pizer, the president of Trinity real estate, noted that Hudson Square’s roster of creative and nonprofit companies already includes Vowtan & Towst, Viacom and Horizon Media.
***
One that got away:
Sources say Steven J. Pozycki’s SJP Properties was thisclose to a deal with global management consulting firm Bain & Co. for 70,000 square feet at 11 Times Square — but something went wrong at the last minute.
“Very strange, because it looked like a lock,” one source told us.
That’s SJP’s sleek new tower at 42nd Street, which has been slow to fill since the breakthrough deal with Proskauer two years ago for 400,000 square feet. Two small leases signed since then total under 30,000 feet, and about 500,000 feet remain up for grabs.
As we reported last week, a CBRE leasing team has been replaced by Jones Lang LaSalle. SJP vice-president Rocco A. Romeo said, “No comment.”
***
At the reborn Empire State Building, international advocacy organization Human Rights Watch has renewed on 45,783 square feet and expanded by 24,299 feet more.
A Newmark Knight Frank team including Brian Waterman represented the tenant; the same firm’s William Cohen and Ryan Kass repped landlord Malkin Holdings.
According to managing partner Tony Malkin, some 2.3 million square feet are leased at the rejuvenated landmark, with 500,000 square feet available — of which 100,000 square feet are in new, prebuilt suites of 2,500-7,500 square feet ready for move-in.