SL Green Secures a Spirited HQ Relocation

SL Green Realty Corp., Manhattan’s biggest office landlord, has attracted new tenants to two of its Midtown locations. Beam Suntory—the third largest producer of distilled beverages worldwide—will be moving its global headquarters from Chicago to Manhattan’s 11 Madison Avenue by mid-2022. Additionally, the second-tallest tower in the borough at One Vanderbilt Ave. also gained two new tenants.

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The spirits company inked a 15-year agreement to occupy 99,556 square feet on the 12th floor of the tower facing Madison Square Park in the Flatiron District. The lease brings the building to full occupancy. Beam Suntory will join the existing tenant roster that includes Credit Suisse, SONY Corp. of America and WME IMG.

CBRE’s David Kleinhandler, James Whalen, Maura Flanagan and Joe Cybulski arranged the deal for Beam Suntori, while Brian Waterman, Scott Klau, Erik Harris and Brent Ozarowski of Newmark represented the landlord.

Supertall caliber

One Vanderbilt. Image courtesy of SL Green Realty Corp.

Over in East Midtown, SL Green’s supertall skyscraper reached 73 percent occupancy with two new leases totaling 43,000 square feet. Walker & Dunlop inked a 16,614-square-foot, seven-year lease for part of the 33rd story. Additionally, a financial services firm committed to 26,770 square feet across the full 55th floor, as stipulated in a 15-year lease.

Rising 1,401 feet and 77 stories, One Vanderbilt has a direct connection with Grand Central Terminal. Construction of the megastructure commenced in October 2016. Offering 1.7 million square feet, the Class A building opened last September. The majority of tenants are finance, banking, law and real estate companies, including TD Bank, DZ Bank, The Carlyle Group and law firms Greenberg Traurig and McDermott Will & Emery.

CBRE’s Emily Jones and Reeves McCall worked on behalf of Walker & Dunlop, while Robert Alexander, Ryan Alexander and Alex D’Amario represented the landlord. Dale Schlather of Cushman & Wakefield closed the deal on the financial services firm, while Emily Jones joined the three-member CBRE team in representing SL Green Realty.

The current deals come on the heels of Empire State Realty Trust’s recent announcements regarding two new leases inked at the company’s 55-story tower at 60 E. 42nd St. A community bank and a law firmed committed to a combined 50,000 square feet at the Midtown location.

Manhattan’s challenging year

The borough’s office market took a hard hit with the onset of the pandemic. According to a recent Transwestern Real Estate Services report, Manhattan leasing volume in 2020 declined sharply, down 52.8 percent year-over-year and 45 percent below the five-year average. Fourth quarter numbers were low as well: Leasing volume slightly surpassed 3 million square feet, representing a 77 percent year-over-year decrease and a 50 percent drop below the five-year average.

The quarter closed with only eight leases exceeding 50,000 square feet. The two largest agreements were subleases. Apple committed to 116,500 square feet at the 1.2 million-square-foot PENN11, while Noom agreed to occupy 113,000 square feet at 4 Manhattan West.