499 Washington Blvd., Jersey City, NJ (Courtesy Cushman & Wakefield) 499 Washington Blvd., Jersey City, NJ (Courtesy Cushman & Wakefield)

JERSEY CITY, NJ AND NEW YORK CITY—Tokio Marine North America is leasing nearly 68,000 square feet of office space, split between Jersey City and midtown Manhattan, in a transaction brokered by Jones Lang LaSalle. The global insurance firm signed for 46,360 square feet at 499 Washington Boulevard in Jersey City, NJ, with The LeFrak Organization and inked a lease for 21,499 square feet at 1221 Avenue of the Americas in midtown Manhattan with building owner The Rockefeller Group.

Tokio Marine was represented in both transactions by Peter Riguardi, chairman and president of JLL’s New York Operations and managing directors Cynthia Wasserberger and Michael Berg.

The owner of 1221 Avenue of the Americas, The Rockefeller Group, was represented in-house by Ed Guiltinan, senior vice president and head of leasing in New York, along with a Cushman & Wakefield team led by John Cefaly, executive vice chairman.

The owner of 499 Washington Boulevard was represented in-house by Marylou Berk, senior vice president and head of commercial real estate at LeFrak Commercial, along with a Cushman & Wakefield team ted by Charles Borrok, executive vice chairman.

“Tokio Marine was looking to rationalize its occupancy in the New York metropolitan area in a cost-effective manner,” says Riguardi. “We found terrific space at 1221 Avenue of the Americas in the heart of Midtown Manhattan that worked incredibly well for its new corporate headquarters. With the assistance of New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s Grow NJ program, Tokio Marine obtained tax incentives for its new space in Newport on the Waterfront, which keeps the firm within easy reach of Manhattan.”

The New York lease is for 15 years. Tokio Marine will occupy a portion of the 15th floor at 1221 Avenue of the Americas, which is located in Rockefeller Center on the west side of Sixth Avenue between West 48th and West 49th streets. The global insurance firm is relocating its North American headquarters to the Midtown building from its previous offices at 230 Park Avenue.

“Tokio Marine is a highly respected global company and we are very pleased to welcome them to the new 1221 Avenue of the Americas,” says Guiltinan. “This is a building that offers world-class amenities in a superior location.”

The Jersey City lease is also for 15 years, and the firm will occupy the entire 15th floor at 499 Washington Boulevard, which is located between Newport Parkway and Thomas Gangemi Drive, just a few blocks from entrance to the Holland Tunnel.

The 14-story, Class A 499 Washington Boulevard in Jersey City totals 550,000 square feet of office space. The building was designed by John Lee and constructed in 2000. The building is located in Newport, the largest and most successful mixed-use development in the world that includes nearly 6 million square feet of Class A office space and more than 5,000 luxury apartments, located just minutes from Manhattan.

The 51-story, class A 1221 Avenue of the Americas in New York totals 2.5 million square feet of office space. The building was designed by Harrison Abramovitz & Harris, the architects for all of Rockefeller Center, and constructed in 1969. The tower has large, efficient floor plates and expansive open-air plazas with public seating that surround the building on all sides. It achieved Platinum-level Wired Certification from WiredNYC, an organization that ranks properties by their technology infrastructure, and is among the largest buildings in Manhattan to meet US Green Building Council LEED Silver standards. The building owner recently completed a major capital improvement program designed by MdeAS Architects, including a new 18,000-square-foot double-height lobby, new elevators, new entrances, a redesigned street-level façade and newly landscaped side-street plazas.