The Durst Organization Inks HQ Relocation in Manhattan

March 27, 2024

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The 425,000-square-foot office tower is now 85 percent leased.

Clune Construction has signed a 23,437-square-foot lease at 655 Third Avenue in Manhattan’s submarket of Murray Hill. The Durst Organization owns the 425,000-square-foot Class A high-rise. The tenant will move its NYC headquarters to the office tower’s 10th floor, fully occupying it. The landlord was represented in-house, while Savills negotiated for Clune.

The news comes after Empire State Development signed a 117,181-square-foot deal at the building in July 2023, according to CommercialEdge. The company will occupy five floors, with move-in scheduled for this year. The pair of deals brought 655 Third Avenue’s occupancy rate from 52 percent in 2022 to 85 percent. Other significant tenants at the 30-story office building include Abacus Group, Big East Conference, Winick Realty Group, The Arc Companies, Golden Arc Capital and Shinkin Central Bank, CommercialEdge shows.

Originally built in 1958 and with cosmetic renovations completed in 2010 and 2013, 655 Third Avenue features 13,740-square-foot floor plates, eight passenger elevators and a total of 11,705 square feet of retail space located at the first and second floors.

655 Third Avenue received LEED Gold certification in 2019. The building now includes sustainability features such as green roofs and double-glazed windows, The recent certification was issued under LEED V4 Existing Buildings: Operations + Maintenance.

The property is one block from Grand Central Terminal and close to multiple bus stations, 3 miles from Long Island City, N.Y., 4 miles from Lower Manhattan, 8 miles from Upper Manhattan and within 9 miles of Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Durst Organization’s Executive Vice President of Commercial Leasing Tom Bow, Senior Managing Director of Commercial Leasing Ashlea Aaron and Senior Commercial Leasing Associate Bailey Caliban represented the landlord. Savills’ Vice Chairmen John Mambrino and Nicholas Farmakis negotiated on behalf of Clune Construction.

Notable Manhattan office deals signed in March

Significant office deals that closed in Manhattan this month include Paramount Group’s 74,000-square-foot deal at 1301 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown. Citizens Bank is the latest tenant at the Class A, 1.7 million-square-foot office property.

Soloviev Group also landed a long-term leasing agreement for 23,033 square feet it 9 W. 57th St. The tenant is Tikehau Capital, that will occupy space on the 50-story buildings’ 45th floor. The landlord was represented by a CBRE team. The same CBRE team was also involved in the negotiations for Manhattan’s largest office lease of 2023: Fisher Brothers and J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives signed a 20-year, 765,000-square-foot deal at 1345 Avenue of the Americas.