Jones Lang LaSalle
What's in a Building's Name? More Than Meets the Eye
By ALISON GREGOR
The MONY Building, a Midtown Manhattan office tower named more than a half century ago for the Mutual of New York insurance company and the inspiration for the 1960's pop hit "Mony Mony," may soon have a new name.
About half of the 600,000-square-foot office tower at 1740 Broadway, at 56th Street, is available for lease. In connection with a potential tenancy, the building's owner, Vornado Realty Trust, is offering to lease the lighted signs at the building's pinnacle, marketing them as "an unprecedented skyline branding opportunity." As for MONY, it was acquired by AXA, the French insurance company, in 2004.
Vornado would not disclose the price to rent the signs, but a broker at Colliers ABR reported that the sign was being listed at $1 million a year — less if a tenant took all the space being offered.
Industry experts say such a naming opportunity is rare. "Simply put, a great name can help put a building on the map," said Paul N. Glickman, an executive vice president at Cushman & Wakefield.
The struggle to find the right name for a building is not uncommon in New York. An address is easy to forget, but some buildings are so known that the name suffices: the Empire State Building, for instance, or the Flatiron Building, the Chrysler Building or the Woolworth Building.
Then there are buildings whose names give corporations a plug every time they are spoken: the MetLife Building, the General Electric Building, the McGraw-Hill Building, the General Motors Building.
For both owners and tenants, deciding what the name of a building is worth can be an important strategic and competitive decision. A landlord must decide whether to name a building or hand over those rights to a tenant. Typically, companies that have a stake in developing a building or that have leased a huge amount of space may negotiate the naming rights.
One highly publicized building under construction in Manhattan is the product of a joint venture of the Durst Organization, a commercial developer, and Bank of America, one of the nation's largest consumer banks. When it was first announced, the 54-story skyscraper, going up diagonally across the Avenue of the Americas and 42nd Street from Bryant Park, was referred to as One Bryant Park, suggesting that this building was so important and so well placed, it did not need a real mailing address.
Lately, the developers have been using a different name: the Bank of America Tower.
"It's a statement to the world that we are a major player in one of the world's biggest financial markets," said John Saclarides, a real estate executive with Bank of America.
Sometimes it's hard to put a price tag on naming rights, as they are often negotiated as part of a package leasing deal, but commercial real estate brokers say they are not cheap.
"It's a valuable commodity that can be sold and resold by the landlord," said Michael Colacino, president of Studley, a brokerage firm.
Often intertwined with the naming rights is the issue of signs, like those on the MONY Building, which can often be a costly proposition. For instance, a tenant could lease the four exposures just below the top of the Condé Nast Building at 4 Times Square for $4 million a year. Currently, they are not leased and a numeral 4, several stories tall, occupies the space.
The effectiveness of this type of branding is hard to quantify. Many people still refer to the skyscraper atop Grand Central Station as the Pan Am Building even though an enormous MetLife sign was hoisted onto its crest in 1992. "When they changed over the MetLife sign from Pan Am, it was $1 million just to do the construction work," Mr. Colacino said. "So we're talking about things that are multiples of seven figures."
The tradition of naming office buildings in the city is one of convention rather than law, although altered addresses are subject to approval by the borough president's office. Though the city's tax rolls have many office buildings listed by name, there is no official registry of building names.
"Years ago, it was very prestigious to have your name on a building," said Michael Laginestra, a vice chairman at CB Richard Ellis. "You can go around Manhattan and still see these small buildings with names on them in old block letters. That culture prevailed."
Nowadays, the approximate life span of a building name in the city is about a decade, said Barry Lewis, an architectural historian at Cooper Union. "In Europe, we know palaces from their royal associations, which last forever," he said. "In New York City, forever's about 10 years. New York changes a lot faster than the human mind can absorb."
Recognizing the difficulties of renaming an old building, many companies would prefer to start from scratch. Bank of America decided to build its own tower, one with 2.1 million feet of available space; the bank has leased more than 1.6 million feet.
"The community can name a building whatever it wants," Mr. Saclarides said. "It's more of an art than a science. But when you construct a new building and name it, that is the most sure-fire way to ensure the building will be known as that name."
The company knows something about names that are not universally embraced. Bank of America Plaza at 335 Madison Avenue, at 43rd Street, has existed for some time but it did not catch on as widely as anticipated.
Sometimes a building's name is a way of adding prestige, thereby attracting tenants. An example is Park Avenue Plaza, Mr. Laginestra said. "Park Avenue Plaza is actually 55 East 52nd Street," he noted. "But it's right off Park Avenue, so with the name, they dragged it to the avenue."
Some names could drive away potential tenants. "Would Ford want to be in the G.M. Building? Would Gimbel's want to be in the Macy's Building?" Mr. Glickman asked. "There can be drawbacks to a landlord naming a building."
Companies in some industries — banking and mass media, for instance — are frequently eager to be in buildings that bear their names, while others, like law firms, are more discreet, said Marcus Rayner of Cresa Partners. There are some tenants who reject naming rights, but negotiate instead to keep a competitor from being given those rights.
Since the attacks on the World Trade Center, some companies have become wary of publicity. "Some tenants like to do their business out of the spotlight, which is difficult to accomplish if the building is branded," Mr. Glickman said.
What's in a Building's Name? More Than Meets the Eye
By ALISON GREGOR
The MONY Building, a Midtown Manhattan office tower named more than a half century ago for the Mutual of New York insurance company and the inspiration for the 1960's pop hit "Mony Mony," may soon have a new name.
About half of the 600,000-square-foot office tower at 1740 Broadway, at 56th Street, is available for lease. In connection with a potential tenancy, the building's owner, Vornado Realty Trust, is offering to lease the lighted signs at the building's pinnacle, marketing them as "an unprecedented skyline branding opportunity." As for MONY, it was acquired by AXA, the French insurance company, in 2004.
Vornado would not disclose the price to rent the signs, but a broker at Colliers ABR reported that the sign was being listed at $1 million a year — less if a tenant took all the space being offered.
Industry experts say such a naming opportunity is rare. "Simply put, a great name can help put a building on the map," said Paul N. Glickman, an executive vice president at Cushman & Wakefield.
The struggle to find the right name for a building is not uncommon in New York. An address is easy to forget, but some buildings are so known that the name suffices: the Empire State Building, for instance, or the Flatiron Building, the Chrysler Building or the Woolworth Building.
Then there are buildings whose names give corporations a plug every time they are spoken: the MetLife Building, the General Electric Building, the McGraw-Hill Building, the General Motors Building.
For both owners and tenants, deciding what the name of a building is worth can be an important strategic and competitive decision. A landlord must decide whether to name a building or hand over those rights to a tenant. Typically, companies that have a stake in developing a building or that have leased a huge amount of space may negotiate the naming rights.
One highly publicized building under construction in Manhattan is the product of a joint venture of the Durst Organization, a commercial developer, and Bank of America, one of the nation's largest consumer banks. When it was first announced, the 54-story skyscraper, going up diagonally across the Avenue of the Americas and 42nd Street from Bryant Park, was referred to as One Bryant Park, suggesting that this building was so important and so well placed, it did not need a real mailing address.
Lately, the developers have been using a different name: the Bank of America Tower.
"It's a statement to the world that we are a major player in one of the world's biggest financial markets," said John Saclarides, a real estate executive with Bank of America.
Sometimes it's hard to put a price tag on naming rights, as they are often negotiated as part of a package leasing deal, but commercial real estate brokers say they are not cheap.
"It's a valuable commodity that can be sold and resold by the landlord," said Michael Colacino, president of Studley, a brokerage firm.
Often intertwined with the naming rights is the issue of signs, like those on the MONY Building, which can often be a costly proposition. For instance, a tenant could lease the four exposures just below the top of the Condé Nast Building at 4 Times Square for $4 million a year. Currently, they are not leased and a numeral 4, several stories tall, occupies the space.
The effectiveness of this type of branding is hard to quantify. Many people still refer to the skyscraper atop Grand Central Station as the Pan Am Building even though an enormous MetLife sign was hoisted onto its crest in 1992. "When they changed over the MetLife sign from Pan Am, it was $1 million just to do the construction work," Mr. Colacino said. "So we're talking about things that are multiples of seven figures."
The tradition of naming office buildings in the city is one of convention rather than law, although altered addresses are subject to approval by the borough president's office. Though the city's tax rolls have many office buildings listed by name, there is no official registry of building names.
"Years ago, it was very prestigious to have your name on a building," said Michael Laginestra, a vice chairman at CB Richard Ellis. "You can go around Manhattan and still see these small buildings with names on them in old block letters. That culture prevailed."
Nowadays, the approximate life span of a building name in the city is about a decade, said Barry Lewis, an architectural historian at Cooper Union. "In Europe, we know palaces from their royal associations, which last forever," he said. "In New York City, forever's about 10 years. New York changes a lot faster than the human mind can absorb."
Recognizing the difficulties of renaming an old building, many companies would prefer to start from scratch. Bank of America decided to build its own tower, one with 2.1 million feet of available space; the bank has leased more than 1.6 million feet.
"The community can name a building whatever it wants," Mr. Saclarides said. "It's more of an art than a science. But when you construct a new building and name it, that is the most sure-fire way to ensure the building will be known as that name."
The company knows something about names that are not universally embraced. Bank of America Plaza at 335 Madison Avenue, at 43rd Street, has existed for some time but it did not catch on as widely as anticipated.
Sometimes a building's name is a way of adding prestige, thereby attracting tenants. An example is Park Avenue Plaza, Mr. Laginestra said. "Park Avenue Plaza is actually 55 East 52nd Street," he noted. "But it's right off Park Avenue, so with the name, they dragged it to the avenue."
Some names could drive away potential tenants. "Would Ford want to be in the G.M. Building? Would Gimbel's want to be in the Macy's Building?" Mr. Glickman asked. "There can be drawbacks to a landlord naming a building."
Companies in some industries — banking and mass media, for instance — are frequently eager to be in buildings that bear their names, while others, like law firms, are more discreet, said Marcus Rayner of Cresa Partners. There are some tenants who reject naming rights, but negotiate instead to keep a competitor from being given those rights.
Since the attacks on the World Trade Center, some companies have become wary of publicity. "Some tenants like to do their business out of the spotlight, which is difficult to accomplish if the building is branded," Mr. Glickman said.
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