Jones Lang LaSalle

Equity Office Pouring More than $250M into Redeveloping Former Verizon Office
January 17, 2006
By Elena Gontar, Staff Writer

Equity Office Properties Trust said today that it has hired a project team of New York-based architects, builders and real estate brokers in an ambitious office redevelopment project in Midtown Manhattan. The building is located outside of Bryant Park, one of the city's liveliest parks that covers two square blocks behind the New York Public Library.The company closed on the acquisition of nearly 80 percent of the space in the office tower in September of last year.

The previous owner Verizon is still retaining the ownership of approximately 200,000 square feet in the office. Construction is set to begin this quarter and the full redevelopment is expected to be completed by mid-2008, although occupancy is expected to begin during the third quarter of 2007."Midtown Manhattan is a strategic growth market for us, and this building has excellent synergy with the rest of our assets in Midtown," Don Huffner, senior vice president of Equity Office's New York region told CPN this morning. "With the acquisition of 1095 Avenue of the Americas, Equity Office’s market presence was increased by more than 19 percent on a square-footage basis. We're also able to deliver 1 million square feet of office space to a submarket with less than 4 percent availability of large blocks of contiguous space."

The redevelopment of the 41-story office building located on Sixth Avenue between 41st and 42nd streets at 1095 Avenue of the Americas, is estimated to be between $250 million to $260 million. "This cost estimate encompasses every aspect of our vision, including a full-building exterior reclad, an expanded two-story lobby, new elevator cabs, a sky lobby on the 23rd floor, redesigned retail space, updated common areas and a renovated 14,000-square-foot plaza," Equity Office's executive vice president of development and joint venture management Bob Winter told CPN this morning.What's more, a new structure will add approximately 45,000 usable square feet to the building as well as window retrofits that will accomplish energy and operating cost savings. According to Winter, Equity Office's main priority is to "transform the office tower inside and out into a Class A building."

Equity Office is partnering with CB Richard Ellis to lease the building. Winter would not comment on how much the firms will seek in rent, other than to note that they would be in line with other Class A Manhattan offices. "This is a building with a good infrastructure," he noted, "and the new exterior will restore it to its proper luster and preeminent positioning."