http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...G05Og396hJSN/1
February 22, 2011
Steve Cuozzo
REALTY CHECK
That means Turnbull might soon be hemmed in by demolition on both sides, a classic card in a developer's hand to intimidate a holdout.
Meanwhile, Jacob & Co., the high-end watchmaker at 48 E. 57th St., is also refusing to leave. Like Turnbull, Jacob owns its building and confirmed through a rep it's staying put.
Even if Turnbull moves to 50 E. 57th St., keeping that building up along with Jacob's next door would leave CIM and Macklowe with much less sidewalk frontage than they hoped for -- 101 feet rather than 150 feet, according to a zoning lot declaration filed with the city.
James Messerschmidt
SQUEEZE PLAY: Turnbull & Asser (center right, without netting) is snared in a demolition squeeze, as CIM Group works on the Drake Hotel site on East 57th Street.
Of course, if Turnbull -- in the middle of the new building's hoped-for 57th Street façade -- doesn't move, it's a bigger problem. But these things have a way of eventually getting worked out, don't they?
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In welcome news for Brookfield's World Financial Center, Oppenheimer Funds has made a long-term commitment to remaining at 2 WFC, where it just signed a new, 235,000 square-foot lease directly with the landlord. The 15-year lease with Brookfield will begin when its sublease from Merrill Lynch expires in 2013.
The deal typifies a trend of large tenants either renewing leases years before their expiration or, as in this case, converting a sublease to a more stable direct one equally early on -- reflecting the belief that rents are bound to rise in the years ahead.
Oppenheimer Funds -- not to be confused with Oppenheimer & Co., which is based at 125 Broad St. and negotiating a possible move to 85 Broad St. -- was represented by a Cushman & Wakefield team of Stuart Romanoff, Amy Fox and Robert Constable. Brookfield was repped in-house by Jerry Larkin and Duncan McCuaig.
Oppenheimer Funds had once been at the WFC, but moved temporarily to Midtown after 9/11 and returned a few years later. Romanoff said the decision to stay at 2 WFC was by no means preordained.
"We did go through an exhaustive search," he said. "We looked at the market care fully and Oppen heimer Funds decided it en joyed its occu pancy at 2 WFC.
"They like Brookfield and they're excited about planned improvements at the WFC."
Neither Romanoff nor anyone else involved would discuss the rent or asking rent. Brokers not involved with the deal suggested that WFC asking rents have risen from the mid-$40s a few years ago into the $60s, but no one was willing to guess about the Oppenheimer deal.
Whatever the price, the lease will further stabilize the WFC, which faces possible moves-out by Merrill Lynch and Nomura a few years from now.
We recently reported that FINRA is negotiating to move into 204,000 square-feet at 1 WFC via a sublease from Dow Jones, part of News Corp., which also owns The Post.
scuozzo@nypost.com
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