THE tides of change continue to sweep the Houston Street corridor, which until not long ago was a nondescript frontier between the booming Greenwich Village and SoHo neighborhoods to the north and south of it.
In the latest big retail deal, consumer electronics giant Best Buy has signed for nearly 50,000 square feet on three levels at 622 Broadway, between Houston and Bleecker streets.
Newmark’s Jeffrey Roseman, who represented the landlord with Newmark’s Paul Berkman, said the new store will be on three levels. The ground floor was previously leased to Fiorucci, which closed its store last year “overnight” but never completely cleaned it out.
“There are still jeans in the window,” Roseman chuckled. “People ask us about it.”
Roseman said the asking rent was $175 a foot on the ground floor and $50 on the second floor and in the basement. Ripco’s Peter Ripka represented Best Buy, the Minnesota-based chain with two other smaller Manhattan stores.
The building where the store will open later this year stands almost next door to 610 Broadway – the new, glass-wrapped office/showroom development that Macklowe Properties is building on a Houston Street corner formerly dominated by a gas station and car wash. A lease was recently signed there with footwear maker Adidas.
And 622 Broadway is across Broadway from the giant new Crate & Barrel store. A few blocks east, Avalon Bay is building Chrystie East, an apartment project that recently signed up a jumbo Whole Foods store.
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The government of South Africa has signed a 15-year renewal of its lease at 333 E. 38th St. for its consulate and U.N. mission.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Robert Tanzmann and Joseph Fabrizi represented the South African government; landlord S.L. Green negotiated on its own behalf.
Tanzmann said the tenant had considered moving nearby or buying a commercial condominium in the neighborhood, where first-class space is tight.
But “in the end, everyone felt this was good space in a vital location,” Tanzmann said, adding that “we were fortunate to have a landlord who remained flexible and wanted to retain one of its major tenants.”
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The handsome 1920s-era 44 Wall St., elaborately renovated and rewired by its new owners, continues to fill up. In the latest lease, Independent Research Group (also known as IRG Research), has signed for 16,100 square feet, swelling occupancy to 91 percent.
IRG was represented by Studley’s John A. Mambrino and John A. Johnson; the landlord by Cushman & Wakefield’s Robert Lowe and Jonathan Dean. Asking rents at 44 Wall are $30 per square foot.
Swig Burris Equities and Zamir Equities bought the 350,000-square-foot tower earlier this year. Managing partner Kent Swig is transforming the once-tired property into a modern boutique office building via a major capital improvement program.
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