Now that 237 Park Ave. is fully in the hands of former lender Lehman Bros., and the holding company has hired Monday Properties to manage the 21-story building near Grand Central Terminal, the question making the rounds is whether a new tower will finally be constructed.
No one will talk about it now, but prior to 9/11, Skidmore Ownings & Merrill had designed an addition for the 1.25 million square-foot building.
Monday also owns neighboring 230 Park Ave., which for zoning lot purposes was going to be “merged” with 237 Park — which it managed at that time — in order to construct a new tower on land around 237 Park.
The buildings and land are in the special Grand Central Zoning District that previously made the development of 383 Madison Ave. possible.
But to get the proper stats for the new tower, Monday — then in its Max Capital configuration — still needed to buy additional air rights, which never happened.
There are about 1.5 million square feet of available air rights owned by Lehman Bros. and Andy Penson’s Argent Ventures.
Since air in the hand is worth more when it’s on top of a tower, we’ll all have to stay tuned for further developments.
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Views and light also make towers worth more, which is why Brookfield Properties is considering replacing the relatively small windows at its Hudson Yards behemoth, 450 W. 33rd St., with floor-to-ceiling beauties.
Speaking at the Bisnow Tech Summit last week, which was held on the 12th floor of the building, Brookfield’s David Cheikin said the developer wanted to take advantage of the 14-to-16-foot slab-to-slab heights as well as the views.
There are massive floors available, including the third floor of 138,680 square feet; the 11th floor of 91,431 square feet; and the full 12th floor, with 110,955 square feet. Asking rents range from $35 to $45 a square foot, sources said.
The former John Hancock Building has views to the west over the Hudson Yards, the High Line and the Hudson River. Those to the east are of the company’s own upcoming three-tower Manhattan West project of 5.4-million-square feet.
Now that Phil Wharton has arrived to head its development, Brookfield is considering options that may now include 900 apartments and, according to a spokeswoman, even a hotel in one of the towers.
“We are fortunate to have a lot of flexibility,” said Brookfield’s Melissa Coley.
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Thor Equities has just obtained demolition permits for the buildings on the northwest corner of West 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue, where it intends to develop a large retail base and later construct a tower.
Retailers are already considering its plans, sources said.
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Two new tenants have signed leases at 1040 Avenue of the Americas, totaling more than 18,000 square feet.
Dorma Group North America, a global manufacturer of various architectural door systems, signed a 10-year lease for the entire 8,282 square-foot 22nd floor, where they will move in September. The asking rent was $52 a square foot.
David Dusek of Studley represented the Millersville, Md.-based firm in its local search.
Communications consultants Exec-Comm signed a 10-year lease for the entire 20th floor of 9,750 square feet, where it will move in November. The asking rent for this space was $50 per square foot.
William Montana of Studley represented the tenant, which is now nearby at 28 W. 44th St.
William Cohen and Ryan Kass of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the Skyline Properties ownership in both deals.
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Revolve, a fitness company geared toward spin classes, has leased its first city location at 52 E. 13th St. between Broadway and University Place, by Union Square and Greenwich Village.
The new duplex has 2,000 square feet on the ground floor and 1,000 square feet on the lower level that will be fitted with 50 stationary bicycles for classes.
Lee Block and Annie Shinn of Winick Realty Group represented Revolve, while Rudy Demasi at Safeguard Realty represented the owners with an asking rent of $17,500 per month.
Revolve President Sylvan Garfunkel has also hired Block and Shinn to seek further spots in the area for the company.
The company already has one location near Washington, DC.