Madison Realty Lands New Tenant in Brooklyn’s Whale Square

By Ioana Neamt

Whale Square, Brooklyn

New York—Madison Realty Capital has signed a 63,000-square-foot lease with Urban Soccer, a leading operator of indoor and outdoor soccer leagues in Europe. The company will establish its first U.S. indoor facility, and second U.S. location overall, on the third floor of Whale Square, MRC’s 500,000-square-foot, mixed-use development in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

“We’re incredibly excited about our investment in Whale Square because we see such a massive opportunity in Sunset Park,” Josh Zegen, co-founder & managing principal of MRC, said in a statement. “With this transaction we can see that Urban Soccer shares our excitement–they have chosen Whale Square for their first indoor location in the United States.”

MRC purchased the former Whale Oil Co. headquarters last summer, and is currently repositioning it into creative commercial space. Whale Square features flexible layouts, energy-efficient windows and panoramic views of the New York Harbor and Lower Manhattan, and will soon boast a new Perkins Eastman-designed, modernized lobby.

“The deal will create a unique, standout amenity for the neighborhood and for other Whale Square tenants,” said Zegen. “It’s the kind of deal that builds momentum by making the building a destination, and we look forward to signing new leases soon.”

MRC is very keen on the Sunset Park submarket. Earlier this summer, the company paid $37.5 million to acquire 341 and 353 39th St., two former industrial properties that will be converted into offices, Crain’s New York reported.

Newmark Grubb Knight Frank is handling leasing for Whale Square. David Falk, Eric Cagner, Whitten Morris and Joseph Sipala of NGKF represented MRC in the lease deal with Urban Soccer.

Image courtesy of Madison Realty Capital