DoubleClick signs lease at 450 West 33rd Street

Real Estate Weekly, March 24, 1999

In a major expansion move, DoubleClick Inc. (Nasdaq: DCLK), a leading Internet advertising solutions firm, has signed a 10-year commitment for 150,000 square feet of office space at 450 West 33rd Street. The lease comprises the entire 12th and 16th floors of the 16-story, 1.4 million square-foot building located at 10th Avenue.

The transaction represents a consolidation and major expansion of space for DoubleClick, which currently occupies a total of approximately 65,000 square feet at 41 Madison Avenue and 245 Fifth Avenue. In anticipation of future growth, the new space can accommodate as many as 1,000 employees. The firm, which currently employs 375 people in New York, is expected to move into 450 West 33rd Street by October of 1999.

Michael Ippolito, managing director at Newmark & Company Real Estate, Inc., and Newmark Director Paul Ippolito, represented the tenant. Insignia/ESG Inc. handled the transaction for the landlord, John Hancock Life Insurance Co.

"DoubleClick was looking for a space in which they could create a unique working environment," explained Ippolito. "We conducted an extensive search of the entire Manhattan market, as well as several areas outside of the city, because DoubleClick considered keeping its headquarters office in Manhattan and shifting the back office jobs to other locations. However, given the city's and state's incentives, keeping all of the New York personnel under one roof became a very economically feasible option."

"Additionally, 450 West 33rd offers a large floorplate with no columns, 25-foot high ceilings and a 10,000 square-foot terrace which will afford a great deal of design flexibility, allowing DoubleClick to create the unique work environment it desires," added Ippolito.

"Newmark found a unique and affordable space in Manhattan that can accommodate our continued growth," said Kevin O'Connor, DoubleClick's CEO. "It's important for people to work in an exciting environment and our plans for the sky rink will create just that. Finding a space that brings all of our employees under one roof within Manhattan was a difficult task, but image the energy that will generate. We founded the company here in New York three years ago because this city is the advertising capital of the world and staying near our customer base was extremely important to us."

DoubleClick Inc. (www.doubleclick.net) is a leading provider of comprehensive global Internet advertising solutions for marketers and Web publishers. Combining technology and media expertise, DoubleClick centralizes planning, execution, control, tracking and reporting for online media campaigns.