LORD & Taylor is clear ing the decks for the planned $100 million renovation of its Fifth Avenue flagship.
The luxury department store, now owned by NRDC Equity Partners, has signed one of the year’s biggest office leases, taking 109,000 square feet at the mammoth Starrett-Lehigh Building on 11th Avenue, aka 601 W. 26th St.
The deal will free up precious space in the flagship store building on Fifth Avenue at 38th Street, which also houses the Lord & Taylor chain’s front office.
The 10-story flagship is on the brink of a dramatic transformation. Lord & Taylor CEO Jane Elfers has already reoriented its merchandise along more stylish, contemporary lines.
Meanwhile, NRDC has brought in a design team to rejuvenate the property, which might soon be designated an official landmark.
The Post has previously reported that the flagship’s selling area would be reduced by half, with the rest turned over to office use.
Few details of the Starrett-Lehigh deal were available.
Lord & Taylor was represented by a CB Richard Ellis team led by Gregory Tosko; CBRE declined to comment. Asking rents at Starrett-Lehigh run in the $20s-$30s per square foot.
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It seems there’s something new going up on every block. But no one has as many intriguing holes in the ground as Extell Development Co., headed by Gary Barnett.
Extell is one of the bidders on the MTA’s Hudson Yards site.
It has developed or is working on high-profile residential projects including the Ariel East and West on Broadway, the Lucida on East 86th Street, and several new buildings at Riverside South.
Less reported is that after years of tenacious parcel assemblies, Extell has three big Midtown commercial projects poised to come out of the ground.
The most talked about is the controversial, 40-story Diamond Tower on a site bounded by West 46th and 47th streets midway between Fifth and Sixth avenues.
Demolition of several old structures left a big hole on the south side of West 47th Street’s Diamond Row.
Extell’s 700,000 square- foot project aims to consolidate the diamond industry in one building – an initiative welcomed by some, but not all, in the gem trade.
Last year, the city approved tax benefits worth up to $49.6 million for Extell – but only if 85 per cent of the $450 million building is leased to jew elry-related ten ants and 50 per cent to businesses new in town or ex panding.
“Our requirements are quite strict and we hope we can hit it,” Barnett said.
The tower will be divided into diamond industry and office portions, with the diamond entrance on West 47th Street and the office lobby at 55 W. 46th St.
The diamond side leasing will be handled by jewelry specialist Joseph Lipton and the office side by a large commercial brokerage.
Meanwhile, Extell is pressing ahead on two Midtown hotel schemes. The larger one is 151-161 W. 57th Street, a vast assemblage across from Carnegie Hall stretching to West 58th Street.
Demolition is complete and Barnett said excavation will start in a few months for a tower of “at least 50 stories, probably one-third hotel and high-end condos on top of it.”
He said he’s in advanced talks with a “5-star” hotel operator not currently in New York.
He wouldn’t divulge the name, but Extell is believed to have talked with Singapore-based Amanresorts, Milan-based Armani Group and Bulgari Hotel Co., a joint venture of Bulgari and Marriott International. Extell has also filed plans with the Buildings Dept. for a 55-story hotel/condo tower at 135 W. 45th St., next door to the funky QT Hotel.