A Newmark broker team won first place at the 80th annual Real Estate Board of New York’s Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Awards.
The brokers, Chris Mongeluzo, Brian Cohen and Moshe Sukenik helped international law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in December sign a lease of 765,000 square feet across 17 floors at 1345 Avenue of the Americas, relocating from 1285 Avenue of the Americas. The transaction was the largest U.S. office lease of 2023.
Paul, Weiss, which has been located at 1285 Avenue of the Americas for 40 years, was originally considering a renewal of three to five years and was hesitant about the disruptions and expenses that might come with moving, Woody Heller of Branton Realty Services and co-chair of the judging panel, said at the REBNY event. Heller added that the law firm also desired a space that would help it attract talent as its existing spot has “limited amenities.”
Meanwhile, the law firm was committed to staying in its current midtown neighborhood, unlike its rivals that are relocating to newly built spaces in Hudson Yards on the far west side, he said. Recognizing that Paul, Weiss could benefit from relocating and aware of a newly available large space just blocks away, the Newmark team negotiated an “unprecedented” over “$200 per-square-foot tenant improvement allowance” with landlord Fisher Brothers plus other concessions and arrangements, Heller said.
The brokers also “ingeniously negotiated with the landlord to reconfigure the tower elevators” to ensure all of the law firm’s space, including those on the upper floors and lower levels, can remain connected," the judge said.
“We created an opportunity that addressed [Paul, Weiss’] capital concerns and upfront cost to relocate,” Mongeluzo, a 32-year industry veteran, said in an interview. “Ingenuity is critical to the future growth of New York City and the commercial real estate industry.”
‘Oscars’ of Real Estate
The awards gathering brought together some 200 top New York brokers Thursday at 22 Vanderbilt. Three awards were given among 15 submissions.
“This is the Oscars of New York real estate,” Scott Singer, principal and co-lead of Avison Young’s tri-state debt and equity finance team, said in an interview at the event. “These are the best transactions.”
Lauren Crowley Corrinet and Sacha Zarba of CBRE won second place for providing a creative plan for LinkedIn’s growth at the Empire State Building that extended the professional network’s commitments to the building while supporting its immediate operational needs, REBNY said in a statement.
To solve the issue of a necessary bridge period between LinkedIn’s commitments to the building across multiple floors, the brokers and landlord Empire State Realty Trust found a temporary tenant and partnered with Backlot, a studio and production intermediary that offered production companies the opportunity to film in the iconic Empire State Building.
David Lebenstein of Cushman & Wakefield got the third-place award for the sale of 240 Nassau St. in Brooklyn. The deal involved a 140-year-old nonprofit, which CoStar data identifies as Madison Square Boys & Girls Club, engaging Cushman & Wakefield to help respond to sudden financial challenges that required quickly valuing and selling its real estate properties to continue to fund services for neighborhoods across the city. Cushman brokers who were involved oversaw a valuation of the nonprofit’s five properties. That led to the sale of its most valuable property at 240 Nassau.