Mary Ann Tighe and Gregory Tosko of CBRE began discussing options with Coach, Inc., in 2007. Coach was leasing two older industrial buildings at 516 W. 34th St. and 450 W. 33rd St., but leases would be coming due over the next decade. The company wanted about 700,000 square feet in a “cool” loft building.
Yet the few available spaces of that size had issues — like numerous columns or the need for costly infrastructure.
To give Coach more flexibility, in 2008, the company bought its 270,000-square-foot headquarters at 516 W. 34th St. for $123.5 million, while assuming a $23 million mortgage, records show.
The brokers introduced the idea of a new building in areas like Hudson Yards. Discussions with Related centered on the north tower that would be developed on a platform but would need financing to construct. The brokers then focused on the south tower, at 501 W. 34th St., a k a 10 Hudson Yards, that could be constructed on “terra firma” by the High Line.
Once the Coach executives toured the High Line, negotiations intensified before an agreement was touted by Mayor Bloomberg in 2011, and ground was broken in Dec. 2012.
The deal was completed in April 2013 when Related and partner Oxford Properties signed other leases and agreements with land owner the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Coach became part of the development joint venture and when completed, will own its office condominium of 737,774 square feet on floors 9 to 24. They can also either buy or lease the 25th and 26th floors.
Reports say the cost will be roughly $70 per square foot and could total $740 million. Coach also gets a 40 percent property tax cut as one of the first Hudson Yards tenants.
To define its space, Coach worked with architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates to create a glass atrium that juts out of the tower and will hold double height conference rooms on every other floor.