Highbridge on the hunt for new office space

Real Estate Weekly, March 12, 2008 by Daniel Geiger

After bouncing around a number of high-end midtown buildings in search of space to consolidate its offices, the investment firm Highbridge Capital is now said to be considering a lease at 40 West 57th Street. The company currently has a 30,000 s/f floor at 9 West 57th Street and another office at 1350 Avenue of the Americas.

Initially, the firm had been bargaining to expand in 9 West 57th Street, but the negotiations bogged down with 9 West's landlord, Sheldon Solow, and Highbridge decided to direct its search for space elsewhere, according to brokers familiar with the firm. Sources say Highbridge had considered taking the three floors at the nearby GM Building that are being vacated by the building's namesake tenant, General Motors. The auto giant now occupies floors 14-16 but will leave the GM Building by the first quarter of 2010 when its lease there expires and will relocate to the Citigroup Building where it just completed a deal to lease roughly 120,000 s/f. It appears that Highbridge is looking for probably half of that. Highbridge had also been sighted at 1251 Avenue of the Americas for a space that the firm hedge fund DB Zwirn had been negotiating for. The deal with DB Zwirn crumbled when the firm, which had space in 745 Fifth Avenue, decided in late February to liquidate its $5 billion in funds after revealing that there had been improper accounting and operational expenses.

Highbridge reportedly backed off the deal at 1251 Avenue of the Americas as well. Brokers say that 40 West 57th Street has a prime location, but has been a lower cost building in the Plaza District because it has an unusual floorplate.