Akin Gump Takes 200,000 SF at BofA Tower

NEW YORK CITY-Another 200,000 sf has been claimed at Bank of America Tower, the $1-billion asset the Durst Organization is putting up at One Bryant Park in a joint venture with BofA. International law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, will take a total of six floors in the building, bringing the 2.1-million-sf structure to 90% occupancy. An Akin Gump spokesperson says that the new space will house all of the staff currently housed in its 590 Madison Ave. offices.

In terms of further deal details, the Durst Organization was typically mum. However, sources familiar with the transaction tell GlobeSt.com that estimates of roughly $100 per foot for the 15-year deal “are not inaccurate.”

The source adds that the remaining upper-floor space at the 51-story tower will also hover at north of $100 per foot. The deal–and the lease rate–satisfies the wish list of Durst co-president Douglas Durst, who previously called the ball: “I don’t think we’ll have any trouble getting $100 per sf at the top of the building. By the time we finish, we’ll have most of the space leased.”

Durst was represented by the in-house team of SVP Tom Bow and VP Eric Engelhardt and Gary Rosenberg of Rosenberg & Estis PC. Akin Gump was represented by Eric Berson of Washington Realty Group.

Traffic has been busy at the tower, which will serve as the headquarters for Bank of America’s New York City operations as well as such functions as global corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and consumer and commercial banking businesses. (Durst will also move there from it’s current 1155 Ave. of the Americas offices.)

As GlobeSt.com reported in March, BofA itself hiked its presence in the building when it increased its lease by 522,000 sf, giving it a total of 1.6 million ft. on 13 floors. Eventually, the plan is to be sole occupant.