Argent Mortgage Expands Again at 44 South Broadway

The deal reported by Cushman & Wakefield, is the third lease transaction signed by Argent at the 44 South Broadway property since the end of last year. In the past year-and-a-half, Argent Mortgage has significantly expanded its operations in Westchester County. In early 2003, the company relocated from offices in Hawthorne to 118,000 sf at the former Kraft Foods building at 333 Westchester Ave. here. Today, the company leases well in excess of 500,000 sf of space at two buildings in White Plains.

Gerard E. Lees, senior director, of Cushman & Wakefield of Connecticut Inc., and John Gillespie of Newport Commercial Realty Advisors represented Argent n its latest expansion deal at 44 South Broadway. Gregory V. Frisoli, director of C&W of Connecticut Inc., and Edward J. Weiss, vice chairman, of C&W in New York, represented the building owner, Nicholas J. Pepe of Westchester One LLC.

At year end-2003, Argent signed a long-term lease for 223,366 sf at 44 S. Broadway. In late April, the firm leased an additional 42,133 sf or the entire ninth floor of the building. With the latest lease agreement, Argent now occupies more than 308,000 sf. Argent also occupies approximately 220,000 sf at 333 Westchester Ave.

"44 South Broadway has achieved its highest occupancy level in more than a decade," says Frisoli. "This is a building that has historically landed big name tenants, but because it is the largest office facility in White Plains at the same time there were always large blocks of space available."

In addition to Argent's expansion at the property, a significant amount of sublease deals have been secured of late at 44 South Broadway. The latest major sublease transaction, for space formerly occupied by IBM, was with System Management ARTS, which signed a sublease for 42,133 sf or the entire second floor of the building. The deal signed in April, doubled the company's presence at 44 South Broadway. Other major tenants in the building include Reuter's, Oxford Health and Blue Sky Studios.

Currently, the building has a 95% occupancy rate. The only large block of space available at the building is approximately 45,000 sf of space on Lower Level 3.