There’s No Place Like Home for Private Equity Firm
The new lease will commence in September 2019 after the expiration of its sublease with Weil Gotshal Manges in the summer, and will run until 2024.
NEW YORK CITY—After conducting a city-wide search for new headquarters office space, private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC has decided to remain exactly where it is at Boston Properties’ 767 Fifth Ave. building.
JCF has been subleasing 19,000 square feet across a portion of the 23rd floor of the 59-story, 1.8-million-square-foot General Motors building. The firm hired commercial brokerage firm Savills, who engaged in an office search that included new buildings Downtown and along the West Side, but in the end the private equity firm decided to engage in a direct lease for the same space it currently occupies under the sublease arrangement.
The new lease will commence in September 2019 after the expiration of its sublease with Weil Gotshal Manges in the summer, and will run until 2024. The Weil Gotshal Manges law firm still maintains its New York City offices at 767 Fifth Ave.
Savills’ executive managing director Joseph Genovesi, executive managing director, consulting services Brad Wolk and assistant director Francis Santangelo reviewed and presented best options for J.C. Flowers’ in its office search. Boston Properties, was represented in-house by Heather Kahn in the transaction.
Genovesi notes that the cache of the Plaza District still resonates for many financial services firms, despite the new developments in Hudson Yards and SoHo over the last several years. JCF felt the GM Building offered the “best mix of prestige, value and location,” he adds.
“Despite all of the new construction and the migration to the west and south, JCF determined that 767 Fifth Avenue was the most compelling location for the company based on the quality of the building and its desire to remain in its newly improved office installation,” Genovesi says. “Following a thorough search and analysis, we were able to negotiate terms that aligned with JCF’s organizational goals.”
J.C. Flowers joins a tenant roster at the GM building that includes Estee Lauder Cos., Perella Weinberg and York Capital.
The firm, founded in 1998 by J. Christopher Flowers, has invested nearly $15 billion, including co-investment, in 55 portfolio companies across 18 countries, since its inception.
Genovesi and a Savills UK team also handled a new lease for JCF’s London office at One Angel Court.