Grand Central Plaza Signs Two New Deals

NEW YORK CITY—A pair of long-term office leases leave only a 63,000-square-foot block comprising two full floors available at the 874,000-square-foot 622 Third Ave. The two deals at the Cohen Brothers Realty Corp. property total nearly 79,000 square feet.

Larger of the two leases is subtenant Third Avenue Holdings’ conversion to direct space, signing a 10-year lease for two full floors totaling 52,000 square feet. The asset management firm was represented by Gregg Lorberbaum of Centric Real Estate Advisors; David Nevins and Adam Karafiol provided in-house representation for the landlord.

Cohen Brothers on Wednesday also announced that corporate communications firm J. Frank Associates is moving from 140 E. 45th St. into a full floor of 26,000 square feet at 622 Third. Cushman & Wakefield’s Andrew Sachs represented the tenant, while the C&W team of Bruce Mosler, Arthur Mirante, Joseph Cabrera and David Glassman represented the landlord.

The J. Frank deal was the latest fruition of a strategic leasing consultancy assignment first announced in February, with Mosler putting together a “dream team” to provide services across Cohen Brothers’ 10-million-square-foot commercial portfolio. Both leases were reported earlier in the New York Post, which quoted a ballpark figure in the low $50s per square foot for the remaining space at 622 Third. The 39-story tower is also known as Grand Central Plaza.

Farther downtown on Manhattan’s East Side, Grubb & Ellis said Wednesday that it has arranged a 55,000-square-foot lease to World Class Learning Group, parent company of British Schools of America. The long-term deal, marking World Class Learning’s first Manhattan location, entailed a lease of La Salle Academy’s current building at 44 E. 2nd St.

Grubb managing director Martin Cottingham, a member of La Salle’s board of directors, served the Catholic high school in an advisory capacity. His colleagues Frank Mancini, executive managing director, and Andrew Phillips, senior advisor, represented World Class Learning, which reportedly plans to open in September. La Salle will co-locate at 215 E. 6th St. with St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic School, according to the New York Observer.