The Carlyle Group Leases Three Floors at One Vanderbilt

SL Green’s agreement with the global private equity company brings the Midtown tower to 37% leased.

Architectural rendering of One Vanderbilt Ave. currently under construction.

NEW YORK CITY—The Carlyle Group has signed a 15-year lease for 94,367 square feet, to occupy the 36th through the 38th floors at One Vanderbilt Ave. This brings the 1,401 foot tower to 37% leased according to SL Green, which states it has met its end-of-year leasing goal five months early.

The real estate investment trust that focuses on commercial property in Manhattan points out the Midtown skyscraper has attracted tenants in the finance, banking and legal industries. This includes TD Bank which is renting 200,000 square feet; law firms Greenberg Traurig and McDermott Will & Emery; and the German financing firms DZ and DVB Banks. French chef Daniel Boulud will be leasing 11,000 square feet on the second floor, opening an expansive restaurant as well as an Epicerie Boulud take-out shop on the ground floor, as reported in The New York Post.

The Carlyle Group is currently located at 299 Park Ave., a building which originally opened in 1967 but is undergoing major renovations by its owner, the Fisher Brothers.

The private equity group’s global head of operations Christopher Finn points to not only the location but the “state-of-the-art, amenity-driven building” as providing a welcoming and productive environment. This year, One Vanderbilt and its architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates were recognized with the AIA NY Merit Award in Urban Design.

“Carlyle’s decision to locate their primary New York City offices at this world-class building reaffirms our belief in East Midtown as the city’s premier business destination,” says Marc Holliday, CEO of SL Green. “With construction ahead of schedule and our annual leasing targets already met, One Vanderbilt is on track for a successful opening in 2020.”

SL Green states that construction is five weeks ahead of its scheduled Q3 2020 completion date. Now at 34 stories, the building is expected to reach the height of 55 stories by the end of the year.

At an Anchin Construction & Development Forum in February of this year, Holliday has stated that the $3.1 billion, 1.7 million square-foot tower is being 100% constructed by union workers.

Zoning for the large scale of One Vanderbilt was approved prior to the Midtown East rezoning. However, the building has become a symbol of a new chapter of expanded growth and construction for the district. As part of the public-private partnership, SL Green is paying $220 million to build transit and pedestrian public improvements. One Vanderbilt is immediately adjacent to Grand Central Terminal and will create direct connections to the multiple transit network.

In the recent lease negotiations, Greg Lubar, Steven Rotter, Joseph Messina, Steven Spartin, Jessica Berkey and Andrew Lutzer of JLL represented The Carlyle Group. Robert Alexander, Ryan Alexander, Sarah Pontius and Emily Jones of CBRE represented SL Green.