Jones Lang LaSalle


Advertising firm's leasing frenzy

A company that owns several large advertising and media agencies is displaying an insatiable appetite for midtown real estate.

Omnicom Group Inc., whose holdings include BBDO Worldwide, signed a 3.5-year lease for 54,000 square feet at 485 Lexington Ave., between East 46th and East 47th streets. Asking rents are $72 a square foot for the top two floors and $62 for the remainder of the 31-story building.

This is Omnicom's fourth lease for space in a building owned by real estate investment trust SL Green. The firm also occupies 490,000 square feet at 220 East 42nd St., between Second and Third avenues; 100,000 square feet at 711 Third Ave., between East 44th and East 45th streets; and 11,000 square feet at 28 West 44th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues.

"They called up and said they needed more space and wanted to stay with one landlord," says Steve Durels, SL Green's director of leasing. Despite the short lease time, "we were willing to do the deal, because they are a giant tenant and we are looking at the long term with these guys," he says.

SL Green acquired 485 Lexington last year from TIAA-CREF for $480 million. The teachers union vacated 900,000 square feet in January, and all but 220,000 square feet of that space has been leased, Mr. Durels says.

WF Realty represented Omnicom in the deal.