Cushman Lands Midtown Office Tower

NEW YORK CITY-GlobeSt.com has learned exclusively that the Rockefeller Group will announce on Friday the appointment of Cushman & Wakefield as the exclusive leasing agent for 1221 Ave. of the Americas, the 2.5-million-square-foot Class A office tower anchoring the western border of Rockefeller Center, between 48^th and 49^th Streets.

The building, one of the five largest office buildings in Manhattan, has a contiguous block of approximately 537,000 square feet, which will become available in the fourth quarter of 2013. It represents the largest contiguous block of available Class A office space in midtown.

A Cushman & Wakefield team, led by executive vice chairman John Cefaly, will market the available space to prospective tenants in coordination with Edward Guiltinan, VP and director of leasing for the Rockefeller Group. Reports earlier in the week claimed Cushman would be jointly marketing the property with CBRE but a Rockefeller spokesman at that time said no broker had been selected.

The company is also considering retaining a broker to lease space at its sister building, 1271 6th Ave. However, Rockefeller's spokesman tells GlobeSt.com, “no final decision has been made on who will be retained."

Cefaly wasted no time in promoting 1221 6th. “The slowdown in leasing activity from the financial services sector over the past 18 months has created some once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for professional services firms, media, technology and apparel companies to consider space in a spectacular building like 1221 6th Ave.,” he says in the announcement. “With its exceptional location, the property offers the highest quality construction and management, great amenities and large, efficient floor plates. We're very pleased to be working with the Rockefeller Group to bring an availability of this kind to the market for the first time in many years and expect it to meet strong demand.”

Over the past 24 months, approximately 500,000 square feet of new leases and renewals have been completed at 1221 6th, with tenants in the media and legal sectors.  Through 2012, according to Cushman & Wakefield research, Manhattan office leasing demand was led by companies in the information and media industries, followed closely by financial services and law firms.

“John Cefaly and his team at Cushman & Wakefield bring outstanding capabilities to the leasing of 1221, and we are delighted to be working with them,” says Guiltinan in the release. “We are encouraged by the strong level of interest and leasing activity 1221 is experiencing, and we anticipate that the addition of Cushman & Wakefield will accelerate the successful leasing of the office space soon to be available in the building.”  

Completed in 1972 as the headquarters for McGraw-Hill, the building was designed as one of four buildings that constituted the modern expansion of Rockefeller Center on the west side of Sixth Avenue. Together the buildings were envisioned to provide expansive outdoor spaces through the use of large setbacks from Sixth Avenue, as well as privately owned parks behind each building. The buildings are all interconnected through a concourse level, which provides direct access to the subway system and the shops at Rockefeller Center.

Tenants in the building include media, law and financial services firms. The property includes a 345-seat auditorium managed by McGraw-Hill, offering tenants convenient access to a professional conference facility.