SL Green Lands Tenant at New Trophy Tower

One Vanderbilt. Image courtesy of SL Green Realty Corp.

SL Green Realty Corp. has landed another tenant at One Vanderbilt, its $3.3 billion, newly opened Manhattan skyscraper. The REIT signed real estate capital markets advisor Hodges Ward Elliott to a 10-year lease of approximately 12,700 square feet, marking the third lease transaction at the property since the start of the pandemic.

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SL Green developed One Vanderbilt in a joint venture with Hines and the National Pension Service of Korea, and the partnership celebrated the property’s opening just weeks ago on September 14. HWE, which has made its home at 1140 Ave. of the Americas since signing a 10-year, 10,000 square-foot lease in 2015, will set up shop on the 50th floor of One Vanderbilt. The firm’s neighbors in the 77-story tower will include the likes of TD Bank and TD Securities, which committed to approximately 193,000 and 119,000 square feet, respectively; private equity firm The Carlyle Group; law firm Greenberg Traurig; and SL Green, which will maintain its headquarters in a 70,000 square-foot space.

Standing 1,401 feet tall in Midtown, One Vanderbilt is a new addition to the Manhattan Skyline and holds the distinction of being the second-tallest skyscraper in New York City. The Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates-designed showpiece offers a host of highly coveted features, including a 30,000-square-foot, tenant-only amenity floor with a club-style lounge, curated food offerings and outdoor terrace space. One Vanderbilt also offers a direct connection to Grand Central Terminal.

“I think in the new world, the building’s location being next to public transportation is even a greater enhancement because there’s a lot of discussion out in the broker and tenant community about being able to be on a one-stop public transit location,” Steven Durels, executive vice president & leasing director with SL Green Realty Corp., said during the REIT’s second quarter 2020 earnings conference call on July 23.

A hiccup, not a hindrance

The COVID-19 pandemic may have caused a slowdown in what had been a notable pace of leasing activity at One Vanderbilt, but it didn’t trigger the seemingly endless cold spell that some office properties experienced. In April, SL Green signed two leases at the high-rise. Private equity firms InTandem Capital Partners and Sagewind Capital LLC entered into a joint lease agreement for roughly 10,200 square feet of space at the property and Oak Hill Advisors expanded its commitment by 23,800 square feet for a total of 69,800 square feet.

“It really is a testament, not just to new construction, because I don’t know if all new construction is experiencing the same thing. It’s really a testament to every element of what One Vanderbilt represents: Forward thinking and best-of-class design, sustainability, location, commutability and something that we plan for in general terms, but not specific to a pandemic, the building is probably as hygienic, healthy and forward a building as exists in New York City,” Marc Holliday, CEO of SL Green Realty Corp., said during the earnings call, referring in the latter portion of his remarks to the property’s MERV-16 filtration system. “Frictionless pass-through of turnstiles, destination dispatch—you don’t have to hit the elevator call buttons—light and air that reaches like 90% of every floor. The amenities which have been modified to adapt to social distancing, it checks every box.”

A CBRE team consisting of Robert Alexander, Ryan Alexander, Emily Jones and Alex D’Amario represented SL Green in the transaction with HWE. One Vanderbilt is currently 70 percent leased.