Crain's New York Business, April 25, 2005, Monday

Copyright 2005 Crain Communications
All Rights Reserved
Crain's New York Business

April 25, 2005

SECTION: REAL ESTATE; Pg. 24

HEADLINE: Lender advances on Fifth Ave. office;
CIT Group eyes space in new tower; Cornell finds it's better to rent

BODY:
In another promising sign for Manhattan's office-leasing market, commercial lender CIT Group is jockeying to grab space in one of the city's few office buildings constructed without any committed tenants at the outset.
CIT executives are negotiating a deal to rent up to 200,000 square feet at 505 Fifth Ave., at East 42nd Street. CB Richard Ellis is representing CIT, and Cushman & Wakefield Inc. is representing building owner Kipp-Stawski Management Group. Asking rents at the building average $83 a square foot.
Sources say that CIT executives had considered a move downtown to 7 World Trade Center, but that Chief Executive Jeffrey Peek preferred to stay in midtown.
CIT, which is renting 200,000 square feet at 1211 Sixth Ave. through 2008, declined to provide details about a prospective lease.
``As a matter of business practice, we periodically evaluate our needs for office space as it relates to our business requirements,'' says a CIT spokesman.
Brokers for the 28-story, 275,000-square-foot-tower are negotiating offers from financial firms of all sizes that like the building's proximity to Grand Central Terminal.
--christine haughney

LEASE RENEWAL IN CORNELL'S PROGRAM
Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations is staying put in Murray Hill, after searching in vain for an affordable building to purchase in the current high-priced sales market.
The school has renewed its lease for 51,000 square feet of offices and classrooms at 16 E. 34th St., between Madison and Fifth avenues, for the next decade. The building's owner, SL Green Realty Corp., agreed to give Cornell the option of cutting back its space to 34,000 square feet in 2009.
Brokerage Newmark represented Cornell, and SL Green represented itself. Asking rents in the building average $35 a square foot.
The university started out hoping to invest in its own real estate, but officials discovered they couldn't afford to buy in a location as central as where they were already leasing.
``(The building) works for their clients, staff and faculty. The Grand Central commuters like it. The Penn Station commuters like it,'' says Cornell's broker, Mark Weiss.
--christine haughney
MONDAY PROPERTIES GETTING JUICED
The busy season for Jamba Juice has started with the return of warm weather, and the chain's chilled fresh-fruit shakes are drawing long lines of customers at its nine Manhattan locations.
Real estate owner Monday Properties wants to get in on the opportunity. It recently leased to Jamba Juice a 1,300-square-foot storefront at 1440 Broadway, at West 40th Street.
``It's popping up all over Manhattan, and people seem to love it,'' says Deborah Frank, a leasing associate for Monday Properties.
Jamba Juice, based in San Luis Obispo, Calif., opened its first store in New York City early last year. The company has four more Manhattan stores under development, slated for summer openings, and plans to operate at least 20 by year's end, says Susan Young, director of real estate for Jamba Juice.
``(During the next) two years, we will do as many stores as possible, based on the availability of quality real estate and acceptable business terms,'' Ms. Young says.
Northwest Atlantic Real Estate Services represented the tenant in the deal, and Monday Properties negotiated on its own behalf. The asking rent was $225 per square foot.
--elisabeth butler