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Marx Realty Unveils Reimagined Lobby as Firm Completes Hospitality-Infused Repositioning at 10 Grand Central
April 9, 2019
1930s Building Becomes Benchmark for Office Redesign with Hotel-Inspired Aesthetic Throughout Lobby, Amenities and Pre-built Suites
The projected artwork in the walnut wood-clad elevator lobbies at 10 Grand Central resemble the vines that climb the walls of the new Ivy Terrace on the building’s seventh floor.
Marx Realty, a New York-based owner, developer and manager of office, retail and multifamily property across the United States, unveiled the redesigned lobby at the newly rebranded 10 Grand Central office tower. The company previously announced the completion of a redesigned lounge, terrace, and conference space at the building as part of the $45 million repositioning of the 35-story Ely Jacques-Kahn designed building located at 155 E. 44th St.
The repositioning represents a distinct design disruption in the office sector with a hospitality-like appeal that includes details such as a signature scent, customizable mood music and video art installations throughout the building. The lobby and entry have been relocated to the building’s original 44th Street location, orienting the property towards Grand Central Terminal, as the original design intended. Classic, yet contemporary, concrete details combined with distinctive lighting, brushed brass accents, walnut wood walls create a sense of timeless sophistication. The design sensibility of the lobby is reminiscent of the world’s finest hotels and private clubs.
Tenants and guests at 10 Grand Central are greeted by a brushed brass reception desk that exudes a warm, hospitality-like vibe and acts as a focal point in the new lobby.
“The redesigned lobby fulfills our vision to transform the space at 10 Grand Central to an office experience unlike anything currently available in the New York City office market,” said Deitelzweig. “We have translated this repositioning strategy into a wildly successful hotel-meets-office package that sets a new standard and creates a space that embraces hospitality in a meaningful way. It’s a truly special atmosphere with a highly stylized look and feel that begins right at the front doors and transitions throughout the building while paying tribute to the building’s original design aesthetic.”
A striking beveled brushed brass reception desk stands as a dramatic focal point in the lobby and was crafted by renowned Brooklyn-based designer Yitzhak Weissman. Two video art installations depict vines in a nod to the ivy that climbs the walls of the terrace seven stories above and were conceived by Clare Brew, who’s work can be seen in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition to the remarkable lobby redesign, the entry-way features gloss black brickwork and oversized walnut doors attended by uniformed doormen.
The relocated building entry at 10 Grand Central has a contemporary hotel aesthetic with oversized walnut wood doors attended by a uniformed doorman.
“The unprecedented changes at 10 Grand Central are disrupting office design expectations for the real estate industry in terms of how these spaces should look,” added Deitelzweig. “Not surprisingly, the impactful and inviting redesign has resulted in over 130,000 square feet of new leases including some high-profile names in new media, finance and technology.”
Marx Realty recently delivered 7,500 square feet of seventh-floor amenity space, including a well-appointed lounge connected to an expansive terrace, and a conference facility anchored by a 36-seat Italian-designed table. The Lounge boasts a fully-equipped café with built-in appliances and ample seating including velvet banquettes with cushions fashioned in ‘Grand Central Green’, in a nod to the building’s proximity to Grand Central Terminal.
The Lounge seamlessly transitions to the Ivy Terrace via a wall of glass doors. The terrace includes spectacular city views, an inviting fire pit, and ivy-covered walls, reminiscent of a 1930s-era garden party. A conference space with a 36-seat table rounds out the amenity offering on the seventh floor.
A JLL team led by Howard Hersch, Sam Seiler, and Cynthia Wasserberger is handling the leasing effort. Asking rents in the building range from $72-97 per square foot.
About Marx Realty
Marx Realty is a division of Merchants National Properties (MNP). Founded in 1915, its current portfolio of properties includes over 4.3 million square feet of commercial office, retail and residential space as well as five mixed-use projects currently under development. Together, MNP and Marx Realty are vertically integrated and involved in all phases of real estate management, development, and leasing. The company’s assets comprise 67 properties in 17 states across the continental United States.
Foot Locker Plans Experiential Sneaker Store in Washington Heights
COMMERCIAL OBSERVER
BY REBECCA BAIRD-REMBA | APRIL 19, 2019 | 1:49 PM
Foot Locker is moving and expanding its Washington Heights store.
The shoe seller is relocating a few doors down from 7,000 square feet at 621 West 181st Street to a 25,000-square-foot space at 605 West 181st Street, according to landlord Marx Realty. Foot Locker signed a 10-year lease for its new outpost between St. Nicholas and Wadsworth Avenues, where it hopes to build an experiential “power store” concept that has succeeded in London, Hong Kong and Detroit. The new store will offer a barber shop, sneaker cleaning, games, event areas and a space where customers can make their own shoes. Asking rent in the deal was $180 a square foot.
Evan Schuckman from Ripco handled the transaction for Foot Locker, and building owner Marx Realty was represented in-house by Henry Henderson. Schuckman didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with one of the most recognizable athletic footwear and apparel retailers in the world,” Craig Deitelzweig, the president and CEO of Marx Realty, said in prepared remarks. “Foot Locker’s new store will enjoy a larger footprint in one of Manhattan’s most vibrant up-and-coming neighborhoods and will be a slam-dunk for the company’s new concept, which has been successfully implemented around the world.”
Office Amenities Today Are All About The Talent War
April 18, 2019 | Jarred Schenke, Bisnow Atlanta
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Maybe it takes more than 150 years of combined commercial real estate experience to realize the desire for rooftop decks in office buildings is not going away any time soon. Neither are hotel-like lobbies with free WiFi, restaurants and bars, nor state-of-the-art gyms.
“There was a time we would build buildings and hang amenities in buildings kind of haphazardly,” Hines Senior Director John Heagy said. Not anymore.
Developers are investing big dollars into amenities and spaces that were once only dreamed of in Atlanta’s skyline. These spaces, like floor-spanning gyms or gathering areas with couches and community workstations that anyone in the building can use, also don’t necessarily contribute directly to the rent rolls.
But without them, landlords have a hard time landing tenants, according to veteran commercial real estate professionals at Bisnow’s Atlanta Office of the Future event Tuesday, many of whom have been in the business in excess of 20 years and have seen the evolution of what companies want in an office.
Heagy said landlords are simply responding to the pressure that tenants feel when it comes to recruiting and retaining a talented workforce, especially when those employees have every chance to jump ship to another company for better perks and work environments.
“If you think we’re not in a major hunt for talent, you’re kidding yourself,” Heagy said.
There is data to support these new office trends:
According to a 2017 workplace study by the retailer Staples, nearly a quarter of all workers surveyed would agree to a pay cut for a nicer work environment.
More than 80% of job applicants would outright reject a job offer if they didn’t like the workplace, according to OfficeBroker.com.
And 97% of employees consider the office environment as directly related to how their company values them, according to a British Council for Offices study.
New City President Jim Irwin said office developers in the past forced designs on the tenants, expecting them to fit into an office shell. What the employees may have found appealing was perhaps an afterthought.
“What we’re finding is that employees … are saying, ‘No. I have a choice and I am choosing something other than that contrived experience,’” Irwin said.
For some developers, the rooftop amenities need to appeal both to tenants and the larger public.
SJ Collins Enterprises is underway with The Interlock, a mixed-use project off Howell Mill Road in the Westside. One of the project’s buildings is slated to include more than 200K SF of loft office and 90K SF of retail space as well as a rooftop amenity that took some consideration, Senior Vice President Justin Latone said.
The plan now is to split the 38K SF space into a bar and restaurant for the public and a private, members-only club that will include a swimming pool with Midtown views, Latone said.
Fitness centers are growing pieces, literally, of an office amenity package. Once Riverwood 200 was built and filled with tenants, there was one space left on the ground floor that remained empty.
Its developer, Highwoods Properties, was approached by tenants about using the 5K SF space as a fitness center much bigger than the one Highwoods initially established in the tower. In turn, the tenants agreed to share in the space’s rent to create the even-larger center, Highwoods Properties Vice President Jim Bacchetta said.
“It tells you that employers will go the extra mile and pay extra to keep the talent,” Bacchetta said.
Bridge Commercial Real Estate CEO Jeff Shaw said developers and landlords are learning the lessons taught from the success and desire of companies that are actually willing to pay a premium to have both the flexibility and the cool factor of being housed in a coworking operation like WeWork or Industrious.
That prompted Shaw’s firm to hire an in-house interior designer whose background was designing hotels and their amenity-rich lobbies in their efforts to modernize older suburban office properties.
Office amenities and the building designs have all one things in common: helping companies attract workers to their buildings, Marx Realty CEO Craig Deitelzweig said.
“I think the real amenity is feeling good in your space, feeling like you’re at home,” he said.
Foot Locker Moves to Larger Experiential Space in Washington Heights
GlobeSt.com
By Betsy Kim | April 17, 2019 at 03:27 PM
The store’s 25,000-square-foot lease is a “slam-dunk” with its new concept in retail, says Craig Deitelzweig, CEO of Marx Realty which owns and manages the property.
NEW YORK CITY—Foot Locker is expanding its size in Washington Heights, Manhattan as well the idea of shopping for shoes. The company is opening a new concept “Power Store” at 605 W. 181st St. It signed a 10-year deal with Marx Realty to lease the 25,000-square-foot building as the sole tenant. The asking rent was $180 per square foot.
Foot Locker is stepping up its game, moving from its approximately 7,000-square-foot space at 621 W. 181st St. just up the street. The new “Power Store” more than triples the store’s size. It will offer a barber shop, sneaker cleaning, gaming zones, event space and an area where customers can “make their own shoes” and create limited edition sneakers with customized designs. The store will open in the fall of 2019.
Craig Deitelzweig, president and CEO of Marx Realty, is known for repositioning and adding value to assets. With one of the most recognizable athletic footwear and apparel retailers as a new tenant, the space is a prime example of real estate leveraging experiential retail. It’s one of the evolving brick-and-mortar stores, drawing customers through the doors with services they can’t get online.
“Foot Locker’s new store will enjoy a larger footprint in one of Manhattan’s most vibrant up-and-coming neighborhoods and will be a slam-dunk for the company’s new concept, which has been successfully implemented around the world,” says Deitelzweig.
The company has opened other “Power Stores” in London, Hong Kong and Detroit. It plans to continue to branch out with similar stores in other US cities including Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Marx Realty points to the foot traffic on 181st Street, and how nearby businesses carrying everyday products help foster the right environment for an immersive retail experience. Retail businesses in the area include Capital Bank, Blink Fitness, Game Stop, and T-Mobile, and multiple dining and entertainment spots. The location also enjoys convenient access to public transportation connecting with both the Bronx and lower Manhattan.
In this transaction, a Marx Realty team led by Henry Henderson managed the marketing and leasing of the property for the owner landlord. Evan Shuckman from RIPCO represented Foot Locker.
Foot Locker’s new ‘Power Store’ bringing more than sneakers to Washington Heights
By Lois Weiss | April 16, 2019 | 9:57pm
Foot Locker is marching its new “Power Store” to Washington Heights.
When it opens this fall, the 25,000-square-foot space at 605 W. 181st St. will sell sneakers for sure — but also feature a barbershop, a gaming zone, an event space with a DJ, and artist areas where customers can design their own footwear and get their sneakers cleaned.
London, Hong Kong and Detroit already have slam-dunk versions of the Power Store with Philadelphia and LA locations soon to open.
The space was previously occupied by America’s Kids. Foot Locker’s current spot at 621 W. 181st, which is roughly half the size, will shutter itself. The stores are both between St. Nicholas and Wadsworth avenues along the popular shopping street served by the No. 1 subway and bus routes.
Foot Locker was represented by Evan Schuckman of Ripco.
The building owner, Marx Realty, was repped by an in-house team led by Henry Henderson.
“In this retail day, there will be winners and losers,” said Craig Deitelzweig, CEO of Marx Realty, which owns property in 16 states. “We chose Foot Locker because they are local and we believe that Foot Locker understands what it takes to be successful in this retail environment. They are very future-proof.”
NEW YORK CITY—“It’s the first office building that marries hospitality with office,” explains Craig Deitelzweig, Marx Realty’s president and CEO. He spearheaded the $45 million renovations recently completed at 10 Grand Central, the 35-story skyscraper at 155 E. 44th St.
“So many buildings are white, marble clad. Close your eyes and open them and you could be in Dubai or Ohio. There is often no reference to the city. We are the opposite of that. Each of our assets will really speak to the character of the building.” Part of the repositioning returned the front door to E. 44th St., where it originally was located for access to Grand Central Terminal. Over the years it was moved and the office tower had the address of 708 Third Ave.
Ten Grand Central has green details in reference to the green color of the historic transportation hub referenced in its name, which is conveniently down the street. “We have been finding tenants have been really embracing the building’s character,” says Deitelzweig.
And the numbers are backing up Marx Realty’s capital improvement campaign. Prior to the repositioning rents at the building were averaging $48 per square foot in the base, with asking rents at $75 per square foot in the mid-rise level and $78 per square foot in the high-rise tower suite. Now, the asking rents range from $72 to $97 per square foot. Plus, the building is 89% leased.
Merchants’ National Properties bought the property in April 2007 for $121.5 million. Marx Realty is the company’s management, leasing and development subsidiary, which has 71 assets in 16 states. In August 2017, Deitelzweig was hired and tasked with repositioning the properties to maximize their value.
He started his career at Skadden Arps. But the real estate attorney then worked at Rockrose Development and Ruben Companies in repositioning and developing properties often focusing on offices. Plus, he oversaw work on 70 hotels during his career including the W Hotel in South Beach, FL.
Deitelzweig combined his experiences with office and hotel properties with his passion for architecture, history and design. He worked closely with David Burns, principal of Studios Architecture. In a year’s time, the Midtown East building was transformed into 10 Grand Central.
The 35-story, 359,326-square-foot office tower was built in 1931 and originally design by Ely Jacques Kahn. The redesign avoids resembling a retro movie setting or Disneyworld. Instead it serves as a modern interpretation of what the architect was building or what he would have liked the building to be today, according to Deitelzweig. “The entire building was created to be evocative of a 1930s hotel space,” he adds noting this will stand the test of time.
Tenancy is not sheerly based on a credit sheet. Deitelzweig wants tenants to find a professional home where they can mix and mingle in the lounge and terrace. As another building amenity, there’s a 1930s style bar cart, with an honor bar available from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
Current tenants include Benenson Capital, White Oak, Equity Partners, Marks O’Neill, TRNC, PMC Treasure, World Federalist Movement, CGB, Global Source Partners and The Week. An industry source tells GlobeSt.com “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson’s movie production company is also in the building.
The Association of National Advertisers is reconfiguring and expanding its footprint at Marx Realty’s 10 Grand Central Tower to occupy a total of 52,000 square feet.
The ANA previously occupied 41,000 square feet on various floors throughout the building, including the narrow floors at the top of the 35-story tower next door to Grand Central Station. The organization signed a new lease to consolidate and expand its space, and will vacate the 23rd and 32nd through 35th floors to relocate to the entire fourth floor and a portion of the third. It will also keep its space on the second and eighth floors.
The term for the both the new and existing space is 15 years. The asking rent was in the $60s per square foot, the New York Post first reported. A release from Savills Studley put the asking rent in the building between $72 and $97 per square foot.
A Savills Studley team of Jeffrey Peck, Daniel Horowitz and Kurt Handschumacher negotiated the deal on behalf of ANA. Ownership was represented by Howard Hersch, Sam Seiler and Cynthia Wasserberger of JLL.
The Art Deco tower recently underwent a $45 million renovation with a redesigned lobby, a new amenity space, and a 3,000-square-foot terrace on the seventh floor, as Commercial Observer previously reported. The building sits at the corner of Third Avenue and East 44th Street with addresses at 155 East 44th Street and 708 Third Avenue.
“Leveraging 10 Grand Central’s successful repositioning and the ANA’s status as the largest tenant in the building, we were able to work with Marx Realty to devise a complex reshuffling of the ANA’s footprint,” Peck said in a prepared statement.
“The objective of the 10 Grand Central repositioning was to attract and retain quality tenants like ANA. We are delighted that the boutique hotel-style office experience has resonated in such a meaningful way,” said Craig Deitelzweig, president and CEO of Marx Realty, in prepared remarks.
A spokesman for JLL did not respond to requests for comment.
Association of National Advertisers Increases Space at 10 Grand Central
The ANA signed a 15-year lease at Marx Realty’s recently repositioned Midtown East office tower at 155 E. 44th St.
Globe St. By Betsy Kim |March 13, 2019 at 04:00 PM
NEW YORK CITY—Tenants are enjoying the recent renovations at Marx Realty’s 10 Grand Central with the Association of National Advertisers extending its lease in the building to 52,000 square feet. The trade association grew an additional 11,000 square feet, and will be on the second, third, fourth and eighth floors. They’ll expand into their new space in mid-June. The tenant committed to occupying the entire larger footprint with a 15-year lease.
A Marx Realty spokesperson states the asking rents in the building now range from $72 to $97 per square foot. Previously, rents had been $68 per square foot in the base, $75 per square foot in the mid-rise portion and $78 per square foot in the high-rise tower suites.
Ten Grand Central formerly had the address of 708 Third Ave. and currently has the alternate address of 155 E. 44th St. It’s situated between Third and Lexington avenues.
“Both current and prospective tenants have been exceedingly enthusiastic about 10 Grand Central’s special hospitality-infused offering,” says Craig Deitelzweig, Marx Realty’s president and CEO. “ANA’s expansion and recommitment to 10 Grand Central is a direct result of our successful repositioning.”
The building is now 89% leased. Representing a mix of industries, building tenants include Benenson Capital, White Oak, Equity Partners, Marks O’Neill, TRNC, PMC Treasure, World Federalist Movement, CGB, Global Source Partners and The Week. Plus, GlobeSt.com learned from an industry source that Seven Bucks Productions, “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson’s movie production company, is also in the building.
JLL’s Howard Hersch and Sam Seiler represented Marx Realty; Jeffrey Peck of Savills Studley represented ANA.
Ten Grand Central states the new lobby, oversized conference space and Ivy Terrace are all part of the experience for tenants and their guests. Keep watching GlobeSt.com where we’ll feature an upcoming slideshow to show you an insider’s view of the upgraded space, taking you behind the scenes of the architectural makeover.
Association of National Advertisers expanding at 10 Grand Central
New York Post
By Lois Weiss | March 12, 2019 11:05pm
The Association of National Advertisers is restacking and expanding at 10 Grand Central to around 51,000 square feet.
The ANA has been growing rapidly since it started out in the tower of the building on one of its 4,000-square-foot floors. After it gobbled up all of those, it also leased the 23rd, the second and, most recently, the eighth floors.
Something had to change. “They were all over the building and felt they were missing out on the collaboration they needed, and as a marketing firm, they also wanted to have those ‘casual collisions,’ ” explained Jeffrey Peck, who led the ANA’s Savills Studley brokerage team, which included Daniel Horowitz and Kurt Handschumacher.
The fourth floor became available and, after discussions with the Marx Realty ownership and its JLL brokers, Howard Hersch, Sam Seiler and Cynthia Wasserberger, a decision was made to relocate some of the tenants on the third floor, which had such clauses in their leases.
The ANA will now have 11,908 square feet on the third floor with an option to expand, and an added 20,691 square feet on the fourth floor while occupying the contiguous space on the second floor.
The ownership will also spiff up the exit staircase, allowing folks to run up and down and in and out with key-card access. ANA will also keep its current eighth floor, and all the leases are concurrent. The asking rent was in the $60s a square foot.
Because it recently had a good experience when Marx built out the eighth floor, the owner will also build out the new space.
Under the terms, it will give up the 23rd floor along with the boutique tower floors from 32th through 35th. The latter will be refitted as pre-built space with higher asking rents. Asking rents in the building now are $72 to $97 a square foot.
In the past, the structure, known as the Commerce Building and designed by Ely Jacques Kahn, has had the additional street address of 155 E. 44th St. and was considered a Third Avenue value-play, Peck said.
Now with an approximately $45 million investment including a new hotel-like lobby on its way, “It has been upgraded to the point where it is a Class A quality space offering significant amenities,” Peck said.
Indeed, the ANA’s floors are also in the same elevator bank as the tenant-only seventh floor amenity space that’s “one of the nicest I’ve seen,” Peck said.
Along with a café, there is a board room with advanced technology and a lounge area. There is also a 3,000-square-foot furnished and landscaped outdoor terrace with a firepit and Wi-Fi.
Owners of Famed Chrysler Building Reach Deal to Sell Tower
New York City landmark set to be sold for about $150 million, a substantial loss for the current owners
The Wall Street Journal
By Keiko Morris |
The owners of New York City’s Chrysler Building have reached a deal to sell the iconic skyscraper for a little more than $150 million, unloading the 77-story office tower at a substantial loss, according to people familiar with the matter.
The New York real-estate firm RFR Holding LLC, which owns the Mies van der Rohe-designed Seagram building in Manhattan, and the Austrian real-estate firm Signa Holding GmbH signed a contract to acquire the Chrysler Building say people familiar with the matter.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Council in 2008 acquired a 90% stake for $800 million.
While widely considered one of the world’s most recognizable buildings and a classic of art deco style, the Chrysler building faces a number of challenges that enabled the buyers to nab it for a fraction of the previous sales price.
The tower‘s owners don’t own the ground beneath the property and pay rent on the land to the Cooper Union school.
The annual ground-lease rent the owners pay to the school jumped from $7.75 million to $32.5 million in 2018 and will go up to $41 million in 2028, according to Cooper Union’s financial documents.
Those fees have eaten away at much if not all of the building’s revenue, some brokers said.
The tower also has about 400,000 square feet of space that is vacant or that will become available in the coming years, according to people familiar with the building. That could require about a $200 million investment in the building to attract new tenants, one of those people said.
RFR, led by developer Aby Rosen, emerged the winner after bidding heated up over the past week, say people close to the sales process. Developers Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. and RXR Realty were among the other bidders, according to these people.
While it isn’t clear what RFR’s strategy is to address the tower’s issues and squeeze profits out of the building, RFR has tangled with ground leases before. The company has been trying to refinance the loan on the classic Modernist Park Avenue tower called the Lever House because the ground rent would rise from $6.15 million to more than $20 million in 2023, an unsustainable level, according to Trepp. The property is in foreclosure, according to Trepp.
RFR may need to upgrade the building significantly to make it more appealing to new tenants and allow the new owners to boost rents, said Craig Deitelzweig, chief executive officer of owner and developer Marx Realty. Renovations to 10 Grand Central, a 1930s building Marx owns in the same neighborhood, resulted in significant rent growth, he said.
Mr. Rosen, known for his substantial art collection, has also made a name for himself in New York’s world of fine dining. At the Seagram Building, he declined to renew the lease of the Four Seasons, the storied restaurant, with a who’s who list of regulars, that had been run in recent years by Alex von Bidder and Julian Niccolini.
Instead, Mr. Rosen tapped the Major Food Group, a restaurant company that has emerged as one of the prominent players in the downtown dining scene. The bet paid off—at least critically: Major Food Group opened two restaurants, the Pool and the Grill, in the space, with the Grill earning high praise from several reviewers.
The sale marks the latest twist in the storied history of the 89-year-old building.
Chrysler Corp. founder Walter P. Chrysler took over the project from its previous developer, jumping into a race to become with world’s tallest building with the developer of the Bank of Manhattan building at 40 Wall St. Mr. Chrysler shifted plans for the building, which was completed in 1930, adding the crowning dome and spire. The Chrysler Building only held the title until 1931 when the Empire State Building took top place.
Tishman Speyer, which bought the building and two adjacent properties out of foreclosure in the late 1990s, initially spent $100 million in improvements on the properties. Tishman still owns 10% of the building but is selling that stake to the new buyers.
The tower is considered a quintessential New York character, making appearances in several movies, including “Spider-Man,” “Men in Black 3” and “The Wiz.”
The Chrysler Building’s sellers were represented by Darcy Stacom and William Shanahan of real-estate services firm CBRE Group Inc. The Real Deal previously reported that RFR was nearing a deal to buy the tower.
