Full floor leased at 2 World Trade

Real Estate Weekly, Sept 18, 1991

Full floor leased at 2 World Trade

The 129-year-old American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has selected New York City and Two World Trade Center as the location for its world headquarters, in a move negotiated by Abrams Benisch Riker, Inc.

The ABS move involves the long-term sublease of the 106th floor -- one of the world's highest offices -- from Shearson Lehman Brothers. ABS will move approximately 140 employees to New York.

The 50,000-square-foot deal was arranged on behalf of the American Bureau of Shipping by two member brokerage firms of the Colliers International Property Consultants network -- Abrams Benisch Riker, Inc. in New York City and David T. Houston Company in New Jersey, Cushman & Wakefield, Inc. represented Shearson.

According to Jim Millard of Abrams Benisch Riker, Inc., the decision by the American Bureau of Shipping to relocate to New York was based in part on the desire to "attain a higher profile, one befitting the role that ABS plays in setting standards for the shipbuilding industry. What better way to accomplish this than for the firm to move to the 106th floor of the World Trade Center, which offers a sweeping vista of New York Harbor, one of the world's great shipping centers."

This transaction is the second time in two years that Abrams Benisch Riker, Inc. has been instrumental in a corporate relocation to New York. The other relocation involved RJR Nabisco, which moved to Midtown Manhattan from Atlanta.

The American Bureau of Shipping, employing 1,477, is an international organization operating in 86 ports on six continents.

A not-for-profit technical organization, ABS is the major group which establishes and administers standards for the design, construction, and periodic survey of ships and other marine structures. It performs annual audits to ensure that the seaworthiness of major vessels is maintained. The Bureau presently classifies more than 12,000 vessels totalling over 91 million gross tons.

Abrams Benisch Riker, Inc. is the exclusive owner/member for the Colliers International global network in the New York City/Westchester/Fairfield County area.