As New York’s office vacancies have reached record highs, 1290 Avenue of the Americas has bucked that trend, proving decades-old towers still have staying power.
In one telling example, law firm King & Spalding in December took more than 175,000 square feet in a 15-year relocation lease, according to CoStar data. With the deal, the building sits at a vacancy rate of 4.1%, compared with the New York average of 14.1%, a record high, CoStar data shows.
The performance at the 43-story tower spanning more than 2 million square feet and adjacent to Rockefeller Center and the iconic Radio City Music Hall highlights the trend of well-resourced tenants seeking well-located workspaces with desirable amenities.
Built in 1963, the skyscraper has been overhauled by developer Vornado Realty Trust to include modern infrastructure and a lobby with a new entrance to punctuate what Vornado describes as the building's “significant Corporate Row presence.”
Among its amenities, the building features on the 17th floor a sprawling 10,000-square-foot landscaped terrace and a 15,000-square-foot pavilion to form an indoor-outdoor complex of meeting rooms, bars, lounges and town hall that are open to all tenants for both daily work and private functions, Vornado said.
The building is majority-owned by Vornado, with the Trump Organization owning a 30% passive stake, the New York Post has reported.
“An extensive capital improvement project has merged its impressive history and status with new ways of working,” Vornado said, adding its amenities allow tenants to focus on both work and self-care.
King & Spalding’s lease at 1290 Avenue of the Americas has been selected by real estate professionals familiar with the market as the winner of the 2024 CoStar Impact Awards Lease of the Year in New York.
About the Deal: King & Spalding has leased floors 13 to 15 with starting rent of close to $100 per square foot, CoStar data shows. The firm is moving just a few blocks north from its longtime home at 1185 Avenue of the Americas, owned by Manhattan’s largest office landlord, SL Green Realty.
What the Judges Said: Josh Wein, managing director at RAL Companies & Affiliates, described the deal as a "new large footprint lease for a large-scale office tenant in a very tough year for office overall." J.D. Cohen, a Newmark managing director, said that “getting a big tenant of this size to actually relocate is more impressive than a renewal/expansion or signing a big retail lease in a prime corridor."
They Made It Happen: Vornado's team included Glen Weiss, Edward Riguardi, Ryan Levy, Pamela Caruso, Sedge Hahm and Shakia Hill. At Cushman & Wakefield, Josh Kuriloff, Bruce Mosler, Matthias Li and Andrew Braver participated in the deal.
CoStar Senior Market Manager Ryan Brame contributed to this report.