Millennium Management Signs Major Lease at Boston Properties’ 399 Park Ave. Tower

NEW YORK CITY—Office property asset management firm Millennium Management has decided to relocate from a former troubled Kushner Companies’ tower to more than 300,000 square feet of space at Boston Properties’ 399 Park Ave. tower building here.

Millennium will relocate from its current New York City office at 666 Fifth Ave. where the firm reportedly occupies approximately 170,000 square feet of space. The New York Post reported earlier this year that Millennium was looking to move from 666 Fifth Ave. as the Kushner firm was looking to wrestle itself from significant debt on the office tower. Brookfield Asset Management provided the lifeline to Kushner in August 2018 when it purchased a 99-year, 100% leasehold interest in the 1.5-million square-foot Midtown Manhattan office building. The New York Times reported Brookfield paid approximately $1.1 billion in upfront rent to pay lenders substantially less than what was owed on the building.

Millennium Management had no comment on its lease transaction at 399 Park Ave. The firm’s move to the property is scheduled for 2020, according to a report in the Commercial Observer.

Boston Properties reports that the Millennium Management lease brings the 1.6-million-square-foot office tower to 93% leased. The building owner is nearing completing on a major renovation of the former headquarters for Citigroup. Boston Properties announced in 2016 a comprehensive capital improvement program at the 40-story building. Renovations to the property include upgrades to the facade and the Park Avenue entrance, a new rooftop terrace garden and new destination-driven elevators.

“Midtown Manhattan continues to be the location of choice for many of the most prominent corporations and we are delighted that Millennium Management, a world-class global investment management firm, has chosen 399 Park as its principal location,” says John Powers, EVP, New York region, Boston Properties.

Built in 1961, 399 Park was the corporate headquarters of Citigroup. The financial services group shifted its operations Downtown to 388 and 390 Greenwich St.

Boston Properties, an office REIT, paid $1.06 billion to acquire 399 Park from Citigroup in September 2002. Its tenant roster includes Morgan Stanley, Savills Studley and Avenue Capital. The firm’s office portfolio is concentrated in five markets—Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC and totals 52.7 million square feet and 200 properties, including 14 properties currently under construction.