IBM Signs Renewals for 292,304 SF in Westchester

HAWTHORNE, NY-IBM has signed the largest lease renewal so far this year in Westchester County by agreeing to new deals totaling 292,304 sf at 17 and 19 Skyline Dr., part of Mack-Cali Realty Corp.’s Mid-Westchester Executive Park complex here. Big Blue’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center division occupies space in both buildings.

IBM signed a five-year lease for 248,399 sf of space, which comprises the entire 19 Skyline Dr. building. The Armonk-based firm also signed a new five-year lease for 43,905 sf at 17 Skyline Dr. Previously, IBM had occupied the entire 85,000-sf building. Sources close to the deal say that IBM plans to eventually relocate some operations at 17 Skyline Dr. to company-owned space in Westchester County. The T.J. Watson Research Center is headquartered in Yorktown Heights.

Patrick Murphy, Carl Eriksen and Linda Dow of CB Richard Ellis represented IBM, while Mack-Cali executive vice president Michael A. Grossman, represented the building owner. IBM became the sole tenant of 19 Skyline Dr. in 1985 shortly after construction on the building was completed. The 17 Skyline Dr. building was built-to-suit for IBM in 1989.

Grossman credits Mack-Cali’s operations staff at the Mid-Westchester Executive Park for providing the critical services to IBM over the years that helped secure IBM’s renewed space commitments. He says that the space at 17 and 19 Skyline are highly specialized build-outs that meet IBM’s specific requirements, including significant bandwidth capacity and specialized computer space.

A little less than half of the 17 Skyline Dr. building that had previously been leased by IBM is now on the market, Grossman notes. “We are showing it and we do have some interested parties in it,” he adds.