Gem Tower completes 100,000 sf in contracts

The Gem Tower and Raizy Haas, senior development vice president with Extell

Extell’s upcoming International Gem Tower has 100,000 square feet worth of contracts, plus another 50,000 to 75,000 square feet of space that’s in negotiation, Raizy Haas, the company’s senior development vice president, told the Post. The 34-story project at 44 West 47th Street was designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill as a new home for the gem business and is being sold as commercial condos. The Gemological Institute of America took on one floor, or 30,000 square feet, in January, and several Israeli companies have reportedly signed contracts since then. The foundation is complete and construction is slated to finish in 2012. “We’ll Be Out On The Street in the next few months bidding out work to the major trades — steel, concrete and elevators,” Haas said. [Post, 4th item]