Jones Lang LaSalle

Manhattan Drying Up?

Deals like this one have brokers buzzing that Midtown vacancies are in danger of drying up the way they did in the late 1990s' boom. Apparel giant VF Corp.'s VF Sportswear division not only locked in a 96,000 square-foot lease extension early at 40 W. 57th St., home of the new uptown restaurant Nobu, it's taking another 48,000 square feet. The expansion space will house the headquarters of VF's Nautica and Kipling brands.

The deal also includes an option for an additional 48,000 expansion option.
Cushman & Wakefield's Stephen Downes and Don Preate repped the tenant and Charles R. Borrok acted for landlord Lefrak.

Downes said, "large blocks of comparable Class-A space in Midtown are getting harder to find, and growing firms like VF Sportswear are locking in space for future growth needs now."
In fact, Cushman's data show Midtown vacancies in the first quarter shrank to 7.8 percent - and "it's even lower for the class-A buildings," Preate said.

VF chose to renew its old lease well before it expires in 2009, the sort of strategic planning that was common up to early 2001. The company, which is already on floors 3 and 6-9, will occupy 11,000 feet more immediately on the fourth floor. It will take more space on 4 and 5 when existing leases expire in the near future.

The brokers wouldn't discuss rents. Two higher floors occupied by talent agency ICM in the tower are on the market for $80 a foot, but sources said the VF deal is "much, much lower."
steve.cuozzo@nypost.com