Georgetown Co. Lands 200 KSF in Manhattan Life Science Leases

787 11th Ave. Image via Google Street View

The Georgetown Co. has reeled in a new tenant for a cutting-edge research facility it is developing on Manhattan’s Far West Side, marking one of New York City’s largest life science leases in recent memory. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, a leading research institution affiliated with Mount Sinai Health System, has signed a long-term lease for 165,000 square feet at 787 11th Ave., becoming the anchor tenant at the newly redeveloped property.

Mount Sinai will operate three patient-focused centers as well as research space across three floors in the building. Designer Neri Oxman has also committed to 36,000 square feet at the property, where she will build a novel research and design lab. The mixed-use, 10-story building, which totals roughly 505,000 square feet of rental space, is now fully leased.

READ ALSO: Life Sciences Real Estate Demand Thrives: CBRE

Manhattan-based Georgetown partnered with Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman and Main Street Advisors in 2015 to acquire the former Packard Motors Building between West 54th and West 55th Streets. Architect Rafael Viñoly oversaw a full renovation to adapt the 1929-vintage structure for life science uses, bringing a redesigned lobby, updates to all mechanical systems, a new façade and windows and an additional 85,000 rentable square feet across two floors.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and LeBron James are among the other investors in the building, which features open 60,000-square-foot floor plates, 14-foot ceiling heights and a 12,000-square-foot roof deck. The Class A office space houses tenants including Pershing Square Capital Management and Dwight Capital.

Monster lease

Georgetown has closed on $100 million in financing from Guggenheim Investments to build out Mount Sinai’s facility, which will be completed in conjunction with the institution by 2024. The upcoming space will house the Mount Sinai West Spine Center and Breast Center, a comprehensive imaging center and a state-of-the-art ambulatory surgery center, as well as facilities for biotech research that will include genome sequencing, gene and cell editing and other pursuits.

Georgetown’s 165,000-square-foot lease with Mount Sinai spans more space than the total life sciences footprint leased across New York City in 2020. The city saw 155,925 square feet of total life sciences leasing activity in 2020—double the 2019 total, according to a recent report by CBRE—of which Manhattan accounted for 137,925 square feet. Lab exclusive asking rents in the city jumped 12 percent year-on-year to reach $92.83 NNN per square foot at the end of 2020.