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May 7th, 2020
Marx Realty will implement a $24-million repositioning strategy after taking control of the 18-story office building at 545 Madison Ave. late last year. A Cushman & Wakefield team led by Tara Stacom will manage leasing and marketing efforts at 545 Madison.
“The success we’ve had in repositioning our asset at 10 Grand Central really punctuates the fact that today’s tenants will pay a premium for space in a building that offers its employees a package of beautiful places to spend their work days,” said Marx Realty CEO Craig Deitelzweig. “We intend to translate the top-to-bottom hospitality-like experience we created at 10 Grand Central to 545 Madison.”
Along with hotel-like amenities, Marx Realty has an eye on the post-pandemic world in its repositioning of 545 Madison. For example, it’s deploying programming materials such as brass, copper and specialized fabrics that tend to be anti-microbial in nature.
Betting Big on the Office BuildingMay 8, 2020
By: Liz Young
Millions of people across the U.S. have spent recent weeks working from home amid the coronavirus pandemic. Some CEOs — including Warren Buffett — have questioned what the demand for office space will look like in the future.
Yet Marx Realty CEO Craig Deitelzweig is confident this is the ideal time for a $24 million office building repositioning in Midtown Manhattan. From his own experience, he’s ready to get back to the office, and he believes others will be, too.
“Right now, everyone is rethinking what they want in their office experience, and by the time we complete this construction, the property will be ready and people will be ready to reinvigorate and get back to work,” Deitelzweig said.
Marx Realty — a property owner, developer and manager based in New York — is planning the renovations at its 18-story office building at 545 Madison Ave. The firm took control of the property, between East 54th and 55th streets, late last year.
The renovations will include two floors of pre-built office suites and a new lobby and entrance. Asking rents are in the $87 to $115 range, according to a press release.
Tara Stacom of Cushman & Wakefield will lead the team managing leasing and marketing at the property.
The idea is to bring hotel-like finishes into the office building, using warm wood tones, for example. Marx Realty did a similar renovation of its office building 10 Grand Central at 155 E. 44th St.
Creating a hospitality vibe includes playing mood-setting music and having a signature scent in spaces throughout the building. Deitelzweig said tenants believe the office space will help them recruit talent.
The entrance and lobby will resemble a boutique hotel, including a marquee and neon signage by an artist in Brooklyn. The renovation will also add a club floor with a lounge, terrace, boardroom and café.
Marx has made some tweaks to the project to ready the office space for the post-pandemic era.
The building will use materials like brass, copper and specialized fabrics that are antimicrobial. Its doormen and lobby personnel will work to keep employees and visitors from needing to touch anything. Marx Realty will use its software that allows tenants and visitors to check in with their phones.
Architect David Burns of Studios Architecture is designing the lobby and amenity areas. OTJ Architects is working on the pre-built suites on the third and 14th floors.
The renovations are expected to be completed by the end of the year, depending when construction can start.
545 Madison is 77% leased currently, Deitelzweig said, with some tenants that have rolling leases. One tenant has already renewed and expanded its lease.
Financial software and applications developer Strike Technologies — and its subsidiary Global Trading Systems — signed a five-year, 25,000-square-foot lease renewal and expansion. The offices include space on the 15th, 16th and 17th floors. The asking rent was $95 per square foot.
Other tenants include Home Shopping Network’s corporate offices, investment firm Permanens Capital and wealth management companies.
Marx is working with two more tenants to re-up their leases, Deitelzweig said.
He expects companies ranging from private-equity hedge funds to businesses in the fashion and creative industries will be interested in leasing space at the property.
After the pandemic, he expects there may be more demand for office space.
Marx Realty unveils post-COVID-19 plan for 545 MadisonDeitelzweig believes companies that share desks and offices may want to move away from that model. He said he’s been talking with tenants at coworking spaces that are interested in leasing 5,000-to-7,000-square-foot offices at 10 Grand Central. And existing tenants may want to expand their footprints.”We do think that tenants will long term decide that they do want to have a little more elbow room, so they will want to take more space,” he said.
May 6, 2020
Marx Realty (MNPP) announced a $24 million repositioning strategy of its 18-story office building at 545 Madison Avenue.
The repositioning will include two floors of pre-built office suites, a new lobby and exterior entrance and 5,000 s/f of amenities that combine form and function as well as health and wellness in a post-COVID-19 era.
Directed by David Burns of Studios Architecture, the repositioning will utilize materials that tend to be anti-microbial in nature. Doorman and lobby personnel will work in tandem to reduce the need for tenants and visitors to come in contact with surfaces. And Marx Realty’s proprietary Marx Connect software interface will be implemented in order to minimize physical interaction.
Various mechanical upgrades are also under consideration as part of the plan to reposition this asset for a post-Covid-19 office world.
A Cushman & Wakefield team led by Tara Stacom will manage leasing and marketing efforts at 545 Madison where asking rents are in the $87-115 psf range.
Craig Deitelzweig, president and CEO of Marx Realty, said “Our reputation for distinctive transformation with a keen eye on the well-being of tenants and guests is already attracting interest from high-profile private equity, hedge fund, fashion, and technology firms. We intend to translate the top-to-bottom hospitality-like experience we created at 10 Grand Central to 545 Madison.”
As part of the repositioning, Marx will add a new club floor with a lounge space, terrace and boardroom. There will also be a café with built-in appliances where tenants can host catered events. The Marx Realty signature scent will infuse the amenity spaces.
David Burns of Studios Architecture is the architect working with Marx on the redesign of the lobby and creation of the amenity spaces. OTJ Architects will create the pre-built suites on the 3rd and 14th floors.
Within weeks of taking control of the asset late last year, Marx Realty signed a five-year, 25,000 s/f lease renewal and expansion with financial software and applications developer Strike Technologies, and its electronic market making subsidiary Global Trading Systems (GTS).
The firm will occupy 14,000 s/f of space on the 15th and 16th floors and an additional 11,000 s/f of space on the 17th floor of the in Midtown Manhattan’s Plaza District. The asking rent was $95 psf.
Additional tenants at 545 Madison include corporate offices of Home Shopping Network, investment firm Permanens Capital and wealth management companies. The 140,000 s/f building, which was last renovated in 2009 – is currently 77 percent leased.
Landlords are overhauling their buildings to prioritize sanitary features
TRD NEW YORK / By Lois Weiss May 6, 2020
Thermal cameras, bacteria-fighting HVAC systems and contactless coffee machines. Welcome back to the office – you may not recognize it.
As New Yorkers gear up to go back to work, landlords are scrambling to cater to a totally different set of priorities. Over the past few years, office spaces have been designed to maximize social interaction. Now, however, minimizing risk of spreading disease is the first order of business.
Marx Realty, which has been planning a $24 million overhaul of 545 Madison Avenue, tweaked plans to include features such as antimicrobial materials. The firm, which owns the fee interest in the property, recently took back the operating lease from Joseph Sitt’s Thor Equities.
The design for the lobby and the entryway along with the retail facades will be swapped to warm brushed brass and bronze with curved features, walnut panels and golden lighting. And, of course, a touchless Purell dispenser.
“What’s important about this Covid world is that people still feel comfortable and it feels warm and inviting when they enter the building, especially after being on the trains and buses and walking in their masks,” said Craig Deitelzweig, CEO of Marx Realty. “Everyone wants a hospitality feel but now they will work together, six feet apart.”
Marx has also talked to tenants about using building entry protocols such as thermal screening. Pre-authorized visitors would be notified that they will be subject to such screening.
Some security experts have questioned the efficacy of such technology because some cameras don’t work as well as others.
“I’m not so much worried about getting pulled out of line and checked for a fever that I don’t have,” Lewis Burns of Shen Milsom & Wilke, which provides security plans for large organizations, wrote in a recent post on the company blog. “However, I am genuinely concerned about the businesses and governments using technology that isn’t precise, creating a false sense of security.”
At 545 Madison, touchpoints that could transfer the virus will be eliminated where possible. For instance, a doorman will open the doors while personal phones will control elevators through Marx’s proprietary software. Vornado Realty Trust similarly has its own phone app for turnstiles, the real estate investment trust’s Vice Chairman David Greenbaum said on its Tuesday conference call.
OTJ Architects is designing the pre-built suites on the third and fourteenth floors of 545 Madison with rents at $87 and $115 per foot respectively, which will open directly from the elevator onto the full floor – thus avoiding another door, according to Deitelzweig. Tara Stacom at Cushman & Wakefield is leading leasing at the building.
“We think tenants will be more inclined to move or add space as they won’t want employees to be so densely populated,” said Deitelzweig. “They will begin rethinking their space, so it’s an opportune time to do [these pre-builts].”
Lobby couches and chairs are being covered in cozy velvety cloth – but is designed to be easily cleaned as will the coverings for the furniture on the club floor.
“You may see companies begin to use more furniture that was intended for healthcare spaces because those products were designed to be more easily and reliably sanitized,” said James Keenoy, president of the Westfield, New Jersey-based furniture procurement specialist Farrell Flynne.
While some owners and tenants will change interior layouts to accommodate social distancing, others will incorporate more automated technology – some of which Keenoy warns can be cumbersome and expensive.
Marx Realty is researching adding ultraviolet light inside HVAC systems. Air-handling devices such as Atmos Air are being deployed in many buildings, the company said, as its bipolar ionization system attacks bacteria and viruses in the office air, rather than waiting for them to be pulled through filters. Vornado CEO Steve Roth said the company is also exploring different air handling systems, including ionization technology because they are “not costly.”
Keenoy said owners are also looking for ways to rejigger collaborative spaces into ones more appropriate for social distancing. Staffers may suddenly want cubicles with tall panels rather than pre-Covid open benches or ask for receptionist-like desks that put them in the middle of a wide circle.
“I drew a six-foot circle around every person and calculated how many people could fit in a space to see if a company would have to take more space,” said Dan Montroy of Montroy DeMarco Architecture.
What he found was that in a space he had already designed for 30 people, about 16 to 20 people could work in such an office at one time but it doesn’t mean they will need to lease larger digs.
“In a lot of cases, it’s a net wash for the space,” he explains, because some employees will still opt to work from home or stagger hours.
“Will you ask them to get on mass transit to come to a conference room?” Montroy wonders. “Does it make any sense to do that and what can we physically do to plan for that?”
Ways to deter virus contact in offices will also be tackled by scientists at The Well Living Lab, a lab partnership between Delos and the Mayo Clinic that is adjacent to the latter’s Rochester, Minnesota campus.
Here, sensors will be able to track and evaluate designs geared towards mitigating and repelling the transmission of the virus in office settings.
Both Cushman & Wakefield and Hines will contribute workspace and workforce strategies to the effort and later test these Well Living Lab concepts in their own offices and at the Delos headquarters in New York.
The researchers will be looking at ways to reduce air particulates, decontaminate surfaces, study how people interact and accomplish physical distancing, and also measure employee performance and satisfaction with the setups.
Influencers in RetailMARX REALTY PROPERTY MANAGEMENT TEAM
Co-owned and managed by Marx Realty, Cross County Shopping Center’s property management team works to strategically remerchandise and elevate the retailer and guest experience throughout the Westchester County, NY property. The team, led by senior manager of property management Carl Calabro, senior manager of marketing Liz Pollack, operations manager Jamie Cekai and senior director of leasing, Mark Utreras, works to drive experience, sustainability and convenience at the center, which celebrated its 65th anniversary last year as one of the nation’s original outdoor shopping destinations. Implementing a multi-year strategic plan to drive revenue and occupancy through activated common areas, the team maintains a robust schedule of traffic-driving events, family-friendly amenities and digital attractions to ensure success. Delivering unique spaces and immersive experiences, including a pop-up ice-skating rink and a food truck market, the team continues to differentiate the destination during the ever-evolving retail landscape.
Working to diligently to maximize income through rent opportunities, business development revenues, reduced expenses and increased operational efficiencies, the team’s efforts have resulted in a 10% net operating income increase since 2016. While managing retailer relationships, the team accommodates the center’s nearly 11 million annual visitors by finding ways to increase gross leasable areas, such as back of house and lower-level space. The leasing team also works to de-lease where possible while adding fresh in-demand retail options. The team additionally converted more than 300 parking lot light-pole fixtures and 40 truck tunnel lights to LED fixtures, resulting in $193,000 in cost savings. Increasing sales, attracting attendees, growing social media impressions and generating sponsorship income through the creation and execution of various programs and advertising campaigns, the team has received a number of prestigious awards for its efforts with the center.
Marx Realty leases 5,800 s/f to Rubric Capital at 10 Grand CentralMay 05, 2020
Manhattan, NY According to Craig Deitelzweig, president and CEO of Marx Realty (MNPP), Rubric Capital signed a 5,800 s/f, seven-year lease on the 16th floor at 10 Grand Central. Rubric Capital secured the last of the Marx Realty’s pre-built suites at 10 Grand Central as the firm begins to attract companies to fill its Penthouse Collection being built out on the 32nd-36th floors.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rubric Capital to 10 Grand Central,” said Deitelzweig. “This hedge fund joins a truly remarkable roster of tenants that includes well-known firms representing industries ranging from media and technology to financial and business service entities. The repositioning continues to draw high-profile tenants attracted to 10 Grand Central’s first-of-its-kind hospitality-infused aesthetic.”
Marx Realty has signed 184,000 s/f of new leases since announcing the building’s repositioning in mid-2018. Since the announcement, occupancy has increased from 78% to 95%. The $48 million repositioning of the 36-story Ely Jacques-Kahn designed 1930’s office tower included a redesigned four-story entry portal, marquee, lobby, lounge, outdoor terrace, and expansive conference space.
The new façade’s marquee feature brass fins and oversized walnut doors, which are attended by uniformed doormen. The lobby’s walnut wood, brushed brass, and polished concrete accents evoke a luxury hotel vibe that continues throughout a suite of hospitality-styled amenities on the seventh floor. The lounge boasts oversized artwork and a café complete with built-in appliances as well as furnishings fashioned in “Grand Central Green,” in a nod to the building’s proximity to Grand Central Station. In addition, the lounge also includes a 40-seat conference facility and opens to the Ivy Terrace, an inviting outdoor space reminiscent of a 1930s era garden party.
Cynthia Wasserberger, Sam Seiler, David Kleiner, and Carlee Palmer are leading the team handling the leasing for Marx Realty. Rubric Capital was represented by Cushman & Wakefield. The asking rent for the space was $88 per square foot.
Rubric Capital joins tenants including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s production company, Seven Bucks Productions (as reported by the NYPost.com); UK-based sports private equity firm 23 Capital; asset management firm Everside Capital Partners; educational technology company Decoded; weekly news magazine The Week & Dennis Publishing, communications consultant Montieth & Company; investment firm Benenson Capital Partners; and advertising association powerhouse ANA.
Major landlords are split on mandatory temperature-taking as offices look to reopen. Here’s why some are worried about effectiveness, privacy, and liability.Daniel Geiger – April 30, 2020
- As reopening the workplace draws nearer, major landlords are split on what type of screening protocols they will use to help prevent a resurgence of the coronavirus.
- Popularized in Asia, temperature-taking has become a common screening method that some landlords say they will impose on workers and visitors as they enter office buildings.
- But checking for fever brings up privacy, logistical, and liability issues that have made some major owners wary.
- Landlords say that a lack of protocols from government has created confusion around the issue.
With an end to the coronavirus lockdown in sight, major commercial landlords remain split on the kind of screening they should employ to make sure tenants and visitors don’t carry Covid-19 into the workplace and reignite the pandemic that’s caused over 60,000 deaths in the United States.
In China, which beat back the virus in recent months with aggressive measures to shelter and contain its civilians, health officials and government workers popularized the widespread practice of taking temperatures to check for fever — a potential sign of infection.
As business leaders and officials have looked to Asia for protocols that are effective in managing infection rates while restarting commerce, some New York City landlords have touted the same idea of temperature-taking as a prudent step.
The technology exists to efficiently scan workers and guests using heat-sensitive cameras as they pass through a building’s lobby, without them even knowing their temperatures are being read. The screening method, however, invites logistical, privacy, and liability issues that have contributed to reluctance among some large office owners.
“If you’re refusing someone entry to a building because they have a temperature, you could be violating HIPAA,” said John Santora, the president of Cushman & Wakefield tri-state operations, referring to federal laws that dictate the privacy rules for medical information. “We just had a roundtable with 20 different landlords and there’s a big disparity there. The larger landlords want it, but others are opposed.”
Taking on the role of medical gatekeeper also has landlords worried that they’ll be accused of negligence if they fail to catch an infected person entering the workplace.
“I was talking to one office building owner who literally wants visitors and occupants to sign a waiver not to hold him liable if they were to catch covid while in the building,” said Craig Deitelzweig, the president and CEO of Marx Realty, an office owner in the city.
Deitelzweig said Marx Realty plans to install temperature readers in the lobbies of its office portfolio, including 10 Grand Central and 430 Park Avenue. The cameras can detect whether a person is warmer than normal. Deitelzweig said that a lobby attendant will approach any person flagged by the cameras and ask them to take a more accurate reading using a no-touch thermometer. The protocol will be loosely enforced, he said.
“We’re going to take temperatures because we would rather be on the side of doing the extra thing,” Deitelzweig said. “But if someone said ‘I’m not allowing you to take my temperature,’ we’re not going to force it.”
Senior executives at Silverstein Properties, a major Manhattan landlord that owns a multi-million-square-foot portfolio of commercial space, including three office towers at the World Trade Center, said it would likely pass on temperature-taking altogether within its portfolio.
“We have decided we’re not going to temperature test,” said Marty Burger, Silverstein Properties’ CEO. “It opens us to more liability and raises more questions than anything else. What happens if someone has a temperature? Do you have your building people deal with it? Is it up to the tenant? Maybe they have a disability and that’s why they’re warm and maybe they do have a fever but took an Advil and they brought it down and aren’t flagged. We’re just not confident we could get it right.”
Several owners see the need for a roadmap handed down by state and city governments to navigate the health concerns and screening measures in a post-Covid world.
“We’re setting up a whole new round of policies and procedures that all of our tenants have to comply with,” said Scott Rechler, chairman and CEO of the large commercial landlord RXR Realty, which said it will screen temperatures. “But what do you do if someone has a temperature? This is where having government guidance would be helpful.”
So far, neither Governor Andrew Cuomo’s nor Mayor Bill de Blasio’s offices have released specific guidelines on workplace safety measures to protect against the pathogen. On Tuesday, Cuomo announced the creation of an advisory board that includes members from the real-estate industry that will weigh in on questions of protocol that should be adopted as the economy is reopened in the coming weeks.
enCappture Mobile Technology Helps Ease Pandemic Woes, Keeps Businesses Connected with Customers 24/7NYC tech firm CEO, Denise DiSano, donates mobile app, enCappture, to Armonk CoC to help provide local businesses with vital info needed to sustain operations.
LONG BEACH, NY, UNITED STATES, April 27, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ — Just weeks ago, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into global self-quarantine, shuttering millions of brick and mortar businesses and impacting commerce across the US. Businesses scrambled to become hyper-digital, using all forms of online channels to provide information, products, services, and entertainment to consumers 24/7. Seeing the need to help small businesses in her hometown of Armonk, New York, enCappture’s CEO, Denise DiSano, donated her company’s app technology – enCappture – to the Armonk Chamber of Commerce (ACoC) to help the Chamber provide local businesses with vital information necessary to sustain operations during these economically challenging times.
DiSano, a life-long Armonk resident, donated her NYC tech firm’s mobile app technology because she has seen how useful it has been as a communication tool for many of her clients during the current crisis. “With the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus, I didn’t want to see our town suffer economically. As an ACoC member and a small business owner myself, I contacted our town’s Chamber of Commerce to see how I could help. After speaking with Chamber President, Neal Schwartz, it was clear to me that enCappture could be a tremendous asset in making sure businesses in our area get the support they need.”
Schwartz was thrilled to receive enCappture’s mobile app technology and is using the Chamber’s new app to flag businesses that are open and list things like hours of operation, menus, special discounts and other pertinent information. “Our app includes links to menus and local product and service offerings and also allows our local businesses and retailers to reach out to their customers directly using the app’s communication features. Plus, as the Chamber’s President, I use the app to communicate with members quickly about important Covid-19 related information including how to apply for SBA loans and other local and national resources available to them. With our app we can put vital information in the hands of our businesses and at the fingertips of their customers. It’s been a Godsend!”
DiSano has seen how enCappture’s mobile app technology can help all kinds of businesses communicate with stakeholders more effectively during the Covid-19 crisis. For example, Marx Realty, a commercial real estate development firm which recently launched their app, Marx Connect (with plans to introduce it across all of the company’s properties), is now working with the enCappture team on ways to ensure that tenants are more comfortable when they return to its buildings full-time. According to Marx Realty’s President and CEO, Craig Deitelzweig, “Initially, we intended to use Marx Connect to assist building tenants with expediting requests, processing visitor registration, booking building amenities, etc. but in the past few weeks we started working with the enCappture team on innovative ideas to use in-app features to streamline communication, provide essential information and give our tenants peace of mind.“ The company described its plans in a recent GlobeSt article. (Read Article Here).
Another enCappture client, Ken Colao of CNY Group, a large-scale construction and development firm, is using its enCappture app to engage employees and others working from home with polls and contests about how people are staying creative and productive in this new reality. “We wanted to foster productivity and purpose and stay close to our employees. Our enCappture app allowed us to do just that with user-generated, interactive content that inspires ingenuity and fosters connectivity at the same time.”
DiSano is gratified that enCappture’s clients are finding creative uses for their branded mobile apps, especially now, and looks forward to helping anyone launch their own app. “These are obviously very challenging times,” said DiSano adding, “businesses and organizations need to stay connected with their customers and members to sustain goodwill and continue building brand loyalty. Having a mobile app also ensures that people are well informed and feel heard, which is especially important when so many are self-isolating to keep themselves and others safe. We have the technology and will do everything we can to offer support wherever we can.
Beatrice Kimmel
Marx Realty Buys Iconic Herald Building in DCThe New York City-based firm is planning a $41 million renovation and repositioning of the historic property.
Marx Realty, a New York-based owner, developer and manager of office, retail and multifamily properties has acquired The Herald Building, a 114,000-square-foot 1920s-era office building in Washington, D.C., for $41 million and is planning to spend another $41 million renovate and reposition the asset to attract media, tech and financial services tenants.
The sellers were a group of education associations—the American Association of Colleges for Teachers Education, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, according to the Commercial Observer.
The transaction was a sale-leaseback deal giving the associations time to find new offices. The associations are slated to leave at the end of 2020. Marx Realty expects to be finished with its renovation by spring 2021, the Commercial Observer reported.
Located at 1307 New York Ave. NY, The Herald was built in 1923 in a Beaux-Arts style and is the former home of the offices and printing presses of the Washington Herald Examiner. Marx Realty, noted for its repositioning of 10 Grand Central in Manhattan, plans to enhance the historic elements of the building and add a hospitality aesthetic. Other plans include updating the entry portal with an intimate foyer that would open to an expansive lobby and lounge space with ample seating and 19-foot ceilings. Marx Realty will also add a library, banquette spaces, café with outdoor seating, 40-seat boardroom, 8,800-square-foot lounge and fitness center with private workout rooms.
EMBRACING SOCIAL DISTANCING
The firm said it expects asking rents to be in the $60 to $75 per square foot range. Marx Realty will be working David Burns of Studios Architecture, which repositioned 10 Grand Central and 545 Madison Ave. in Manhattan as well.
Craig Deitelzweig, Marx Realty president & CEO, said in a prepared statement the Herald Building is exceptional because of its very high ceiling heights and its important history. He expects to transform the building into a contemporary office space that has the look and ambiance of a luxury hotel. The firm will feature mood music and have its signature scent infused through the duct work.
In a nod to changes that will be necessary and/or expected in a post-COVID-19 world, Marx Realty will be using material like brass and copper that tend to be anti-microbial. The doorman and lobby personnel will work together to reduce the need for tenants and visitors to come in contact with surfaces. The company will also implement its proprietary Marx Connect software interface to minimize physical interaction.
Marx Realty owns 67 properties in 17 states with more than 5 million square feet of office, retail and residential space along with five mixed-use projects under development. The company has other assets in the metro D.C. area including 819 7th St. in the city and five northern Virginia properties.
Marx Realty Purchases The Herald Building for $41MThe former Washington Herald Examiner office building will undergo a $41 million aesthetic transformation, implemented by Marx Realty.
By Ingrid Tunberg | April 16, 2020 at 11:21 AM
Washington DC – Marx Realty has purchased The Herald Building in Washington DC in a $41 million transaction. The firm intends to invest an additional $41 million in the property to reposition the space with a hospitality-like aesthetic.
The 114,000-square-foot, Beaux Arts style building, built in 1923, previously hosted the Washington Herald Examiner’s offices and printing presses. Marx Realty plans to enhance the property’s historic elements and transform the space; intending to blur the lines between commercial office and luxury hotel.
The repositioning of the office building will encompass an updated entry portal and an expansive lobby with 19-foot ceilings. The asset will transform spaces including an 8,800-square-foot lounge, a fitness center with private workout rooms, a 40 seat board room on the ground floor, a new library, banquette spaces and a café with outdoor seating. The company will additionally implement its proprietary Marx Connect software interface at the property, in effort to minimize physical interaction.
Upon the repositioning, the company will employ asking rents of $62-72 per square foot at the property.
The project serves as a collaboration between Marx Realty and Studios Architecture’s David Burns. The partners previously worked together in the similar, aesthetic transformations of both 10 Grand Central and 545 Madison Avenue office towers in New York.
New York-based owner, developer and manager, Marx Realty is a division of Merchants National Properties. Founded in 1915, the firm’s current portfolio encompasses more than five million square feet of office, retail, multifamily and mixed-use space throughout 17 states.