Newest deals bring NY Times Building to near-capacity

Real Estate Weekly, Oct 8, 2008

Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC) announced that the Government of Flanders, and Autonomy, Inc., two dramatically different entities, have signed leases for space in The New York Times Building at 620 Eighth Avenue.

In less than a year, the Renzo Piano-designed building has become a vital, fully-integrated part of its Times Square neighborhood.

With these signings, only one space of just under 6,500 s/f remains available in the 52-story tower, which had its grand opening last November.

The Government of Flanders, which represents Belgium's Flemish-speaking community of approximately 6 million people, is leasing 7,400 s/f on the 44th floor for an Investment and Trade Office, an Office of Tourism, and Flanders House, dedicated to cultural promotion.

Autonomy, Inc., which utilizes a combination of technologies developed from research conducted at Cambridge University, has become the second largest pure software company in Europe. The company, which is moving its New York office from 230 West 41st Street to The New York Times Building, is leasing 5,375 s/f on the 38th floor.

Bruce Ratner, chairman and CEO of Forest City Ratner said, "I'm very pleased that The New York Times Building has been so successful in continuing to attract a diverse group of distinguished tenants, especially in this challenging real estate market."

The Government of Fianders was represented by Andrew Simon, Executive Managing Director at NAI Global New York City and Robert Kluge, Associate. Autonomy, Inc.'s lease was handled by Ross Zimbalist of CB Richard Ellis.

FCRC was represented in both transactions by the CB Richard Ellis brokerage team including CEO Mary Ann Tighe; vice chairman Howard Fiddle; executive VPs Peter Turchin and Tim Dempsey; senior vice president Jason Pollen; and senior associate Evan Haskell.

The 1.5-million-gross-square-foot New York Times Building is jointly owned, as condominiums, by The New York Times Company and FCRC. The Times Company owns floors 2 through 27 and FCRC owns floors 29 through 50 and floor 52, as well as 21,000 s/f of retail space on the ground floor. Floors 28 and 51 are jointly owned by The Times Company and FCRC.

Office tenants in the FCRC portion of the tower include Legg Mason, Inc.; Seyfarth Shaw LLP; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP; Covington & Burling LLP; Samoo Architecture EC.; Goodwin Proctor LLP ; SJP Properties; Barclay Center/New Jersey Nets; JAMS, The Resolution Experts; and Markit Group Limited. Retail tenants include MUJI, Dean & DeLuca Cafe, Inakaya, Montenapo by Bice, and Schnipper's Quality Kitchen.