Brooks Brothers is on its way to Wall Street.
The white-shoe fashion retailer is in negotiations to lease two floors totaling 7,000 square feet at 35 Wall St., just steps away from the New York Stock Exchange.
“It’s great for them,” said Cushman & Wakefield’s Joanne Podell, who is representing the building ownership along with colleague Matthew Siegel.
“I never work on deals that don’t make sense for the tenant,” said Podell, who is looking forward to the retailer signing the lease. “Their customer is there.”
The asking rent for the ground floor is $500 a foot. As the building is one of the few that is not landmarked, the owners have already had Wonder Works Construction install a new modern glass storefront. The building is connected to JPMorgan’s former headquarters at 23 Wall St. and the 15 Broad St. tower where Hermes pioneered its own store.
Podell is offering a total of 125,000 square feet of retail on behalf of China Sonogol, which purchased the retail swath from Africa Israel for $150 million in 2008. Jona Rechnitz of JSR Capital is now the owner’s rep and declined comment.
Frank DiMucci of DiMucci Partners, who is representing Brooks Brothers, did not return a call seeking comment.
The Brooks Brothers deal would be the first high-profile retailer to sign a lease since last year’s Occupy Wall Street protesters caused the Kosher Milk Street Café at 40 Wall to fail.
Of course, a lease ain’t a deal until it’s inked.
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The Durst Organization learned that lesson earlier this month when Express was lured away from a deal for the former ESPN Zone space at 4 Times Square, which had been in ongoing negotiations since last fall as first revealed by Post colleague Steve Cuozzo.
When Express execs were made aware that the current TGIF building at 1552 Broadway was available — and that if they took the location the store would become the splashy backdrop for all the New Year’s Eve musical performances — they decided to leap right into the epicenter of the Times Square Bow Tie.
Within two weeks, retail maestro Jeff Sutton and SL Green Realty had Express signed, sealed and delivered on a platter for the entire 1552 Broadway, along with part of the space Sutton and SLG long-term leased at Jeff Gural’s adjacent 1560 Broadway.
When TGIF closes shop on Aug. 19, the four-story building will be reconfigured into three stories for Express, so each floor can have high ceilings. Sources said the Express will also seamlessly mesh into Gural’s 1560 Broadway to the north, creating a nearly 27,000-square-foot spread.
Sources said the 15-year pact is worth over $350 million — roughly a record $23 million a year in rent — for a location that has pedestrian traffic until 2 a.m.
As we exclusively reported last year, the two Jeff’s and SLG formed a venture to maximize the value of both locations and morph the undervalued W. 46th Street side street space into valuable Bow Tie territory.
Due to all the needed construction, however, Express won’t be able to open until the fall of 2013 — just in time for a 2014 ball drop.
David LaPierre of CBRE represented Express on the deal, while Sutton’s Wharton Properties handled negotiations for the venture. No one returned calls for comment.
Express’ CEO Michael Weiss (no relation) discussed the switcheroo on a conference call last week that was first reported by the Columbus Business First.
Where does this leave Durst? With a big 45,000-square-foot W. 42nd St. ESPN Zone hole to fill.
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Silverstein Properties is working on a joint venture with Mercedes Benz to redevelop the nearly full block site of its former showroom at 514 Eleventh Ave. between 40th and 41st into a 60-story tower.
The Real Deal reported that RFK has been hired to drum up a big retailer for as much as 200,000 square feet for the base.
Sources said Silverstein is still figuring out what will fill the rest of the tower that sits on a full block of 92,393 square feet of land above the No. 7 line subway. Just to complicate planning and construction, the city has a permanent easement on some of the underground land and the approach to the Lincoln Tunnel.
Silverstein, which has already developed the nearby River and Silver Towers as apartments on W. 42nd St., declined to comment.
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Jay Suites President Juda Srour has signed a lease for a new headquarters at 1441 Broadway.
When they open on the entire fifth floor of 21,711 square feet on Aug. 1, Srour says they will be the largest operator in the Times Square area. The asking rent was $46 a foot.
The firm started five years ago by brothers Juda and Jack
Srour has five locations, including 30 Broad St., 369 Lexington Ave., 2 West 46 St. and 1370 Broadway.
The Srours say they are seeing a lot of demand for flexible and virtual space that they provide for an all-inclusive rental fee.
Richard Doolittle of Murray Hill Partners represented both the Leon Charney-owned building as well as the tenant. Jay Suites plan to open locations in Union Square and Chelsea by the first quarter of 2013.
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At 14 Penn, the competing Virgo Business Centers took the entire ninth floor of 27,321 square feet. Dakota Realty Group’s Jay Futersak represented the tenant and Dakota’s Ephraim Elavary repped the ownership, which has an asking rent of $47 a foot for offices.
“Executive suites are doing well, and we are very excited to have him,” said Futersak.
A current 16th floor tenant, the Abacus Group, will also move and expand into 7,000 square feet on the 14th floor in a 12-year lease. The Combined Coordinating Council also leased 6,578 square feet on the 13th floor. Futersak and Elavary handled both sides of those deals.
In other deals there, the Dominican Sisters Family Health Service leased 4,000 square feet on the fourth floor, while Kratos Security Solutions walked in off the street and leased 3,301 square feet on the 13th floor.
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Forensic computer investigators Stroz Friedberg is expanding in 32 Ave. of the Americas, adding to its 40,000 square feet on the 4th floor with a sublease for 13,793 square feet on the 13th floor from Superstructures Engineers & Architects.
Danielle Zimbaro and Glenn Markman of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant, while John Brierty of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented Superstructures, which had an asking rent in the high $30s a foot.