The early lease renewal locked in 96,000 sf of expansion spaceat the 812,000-sf office tower. VF Sportswear now has a total of168,000 sf in the site. Its space includes 48,000 sf of immediateexpansion space for the headquarters brands. The long-termagreement also contains an option for up to 48,000 sf of additionalspace in the future, which would bring the firm's presence in thebuilding to more than 215,000 sf.

Cushman & Wakefield senior directors Stephen Downes and DonPreate represented VF Sportswear, while Charles R. Borrok, aCushman vice chairman, represented the owner, the LefrakOrganization. "Large blocks of comparable class A space in Midtownare getting harder to find, and growing firms like VF Sportswearare locking in space for future growth needs now," Downes says. Infact, at the end of March, the class A vacancy rate in Midtown forspace available directly from the ownership dropped to 5.8% from6.6% the previous year.

Additional leasing details were not available. According toresearch from C&W, rents in the Sixth Avenue/Rockefeller Centersubmarket average $60.02 per sf.