Jones Lang LaSalle


AIG regroups in downtown space
Insurance company returning to Water St.; clothing retailer sews up 2 new sites

Published on May 08, 2006

American International Group Inc. is returning to a downtown building that it left following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Three years ago, AIG walked away from 410,000 square feet of 480,000 square feet that it leased at 160 Water St., between Fletcher and John streets. Now it is moving back in after signing a five-year lease for 86,000 square feet on four floors.

The space, which rents for nearly $30 per square foot, has been vacant since the insurance and financial services firm left in 2003. After AIG's return in July, the building will be fully occupied.
"AIG is still one of the largest tenants downtown, and it has been assessing its strategic plan for the future," says Richard Feldman, executive managing director at Williamson Picket Gross Inc., which represented the Water Street building. AIG represented itself in the transaction.
AIG was able to cut short its lease at 160 Water three years ago because its agreement contained a cancellation clause.

"We had to do some serious thinking about how to reposition the building after AIG left, because there were so many buildings on this street that were empty at that time," Mr. Feldman says.
Williamson Picket Gross was able to fill most of the space that AIG vacated by renting to government agencies and nonprofits. Tenants include the city's Health and Hospitals Corp., which occupies 210,000 square feet, and Continuum Health Partners, which rents more than 100,000 square feet.
--Julie Satow