EDC selects Minskoff

Real Estate Weekly, April 18, 2001 by Natalie Keith

The city has selected Ed ward J. Minskoff Equities, Inc. to develop a 32-story office tower in TriBeCa for the city's Economic Development Corporation.

"The firm has a track record of successful development projects, and I am confident this new tower will play an important role in the continued revitalization of lower Manhattan," said Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, in making the announcement.

It will be the first office tower built in lower Manhattan in more than 10 years, according to the EDC.

The 90,000 SF site is on Greenwich Street between Warren and Murray Streets near Battery Park City. The proposed black granite and glass tower, which will have the address of 270 Greenwich St., will consist of more than one million square feet of office space and approximately 25,000 SF of ground level retail space. The project will include a 30,000 SF landscaped plaza on Greenwich Street and below-grade parking for 100 cars, city officials said.

The lower four floors of the tower will contain approximately 73,000 SF, while the upper 28 floors will contain approximately 43,500 SF. Construction on the project is expected to begin in about 12 months and be completed in 2004, city officials said.

Minskoff Equities was chosen for the project after a request for proposals was issued by the EDC in July 2000. Architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed the new building.

"The site enables us to bring to the market an institutional quality office building in the most diverse and dynamic city in the U.S. There are very few alternatives for large blocks of space and, for this reason, we are confident that 270 Greenwich St. will provide a competitive alternative for companies seeking quality office space," said Edward Minskoff, president of Minskoff Equities.

The company owns, leases, and manages more than four million square feet of commercial property. It has developed 1325 Avenue of the Americas and 101 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, the recently completed regional headquarters building for the Federal Aviation Administration in Queens, and owns a condominium interest at 1166 Avenue of the Americas. The company also manages the IBM building at 590 Madison Ave., 825 Seventh Ave. and Niketown.

Edward Minskoff was formerly chief executive officer of Olympia & York, which developed many of the office buildings in the World Financial Center and more than 27 million square feet of office space throughout the country.