Western Union switches to direct lease in FiDi office

Company formerly sublet the 20,000-square-foot space from Wells Fargo

From left: Jonathan Resnick and 199 Water Street
From left: Jonathan Resnick and 199 Water Street

Western Union, the money transfer agent, will now lease its Financial District office directly from landlord Jack Resnick & Sons instead of subletting.

Once a subtenant of Wells Fargo, the one-time telegraph company signed a ten-year direct lease with the owner of 199 Water Street for its 20,689-square-foot digs on the 29th floor.

Asking rents were in the high $40s per square foot.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

The New York Observer, which first reported the deal, indicated that Michael Gottlieb of Avison Young represented the tenant, while the landlord was represented in-house by Brett Greenberg and Dennis Brady, in conjunction with John Cefaly and Robert Constable of Cushman & Wakefield.

The insurance firm Allied World Insurance is also subletting from Wells Fargo in the 1.1 million-square-foot office tower, and sought to convert to a direct lease when it expanded to 143,000 square feet in January. The building itself was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy but remained close to full occupancy last year, as The Real Deal reported. [NYO] Angela Hunt