Latham & Watkins Leases 407K SF in Midtown Relocation

ByApril 30, 2018 2:52 pm
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1271 Avenue of the Americas.Photo: Rockefeller Group.

Law firmLatham & Watkins has signed a 407,000-square-foot lease atRockefeller Group’s1271 Avenue of the Americas to relocate its offices from Midtown East to Midtown, according to a release from the landlord today.  

The practice will occupy 10 floors—the 25th through 34th—in the 48-story skyscraper between West 50th and West 51st Streets.

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Latham & Watkins plans to relocate its offices from 885 Third Avenue between East 53rd and East 54th Streets, also known asThe Lipstick Building, in the second half of 2020, according to the release. The length of the deal is15 years, according toThe Wall Street Journal, which first reported news of the deal. A spokesman for the landlord declined to disclose the asking rent in the transaction, but noted that  asking rents in the building range from $90 per square foot to $125 per square foot.

The New York offices of Latham & Watkins are the practice’s largest with more than 450 lawyers, according toMichèle Penzer, the New York office managing partner of Latham & Watkins. (The company has 11 offices around the country.)

“1271 Avenue of the Americas is a historic building,” Penzer said in prepared remarks. “Many factors informed our decision to move to 1271, including its central Midtown location, architectural significance and top-quality renovations, coupled with the opportunity to design a new office.”

The building is devoid of tenants as landlordRockefeller Group is currently undergoing a $600 million renovation of the 1959, 2.1-million-square-foot building. Last year,Major League Baseball andMizuho Banksigned leases totaling 325,000 square feet and 411,000 square feet in the tower, as CO previously reported. The renovation will be completed at the end of 2019, and tenants expected to move in afterward.

“Latham & Watkins is a preeminent and highly respected global law firm, and they are an outstanding addition to the building’s impressive tenant roster,”Edward Guiltinan, a senior vice president and the head of leasing in New York for Rockefeller Group, said in a statement.

Guiltinan and colleagueJennifer Stein brokered the transaction for the landlord in-house with aCBRE team ofMary Ann Tighe,Howard Fiddle, John Maher,Sarah Pontius,Evan Haskell andDave Caperna. A separate CBRE team ofScott Gamber andCraig Reicher handled the deal for Latham & Watkins. Gamber and Reicher declined to comment via a CBRE spokeswoman.