L&L wants to charge $250 a foot at 425 Park Avenue

Highest current rates in the city are about $200 per foot

Rendering of 425 Park Avenue (credit: Foster + Partners)
Rendering of 425 Park Avenue (credit: Foster + Partners)

L&L Holding Company just broke ground on its 47-story office tower at 425 Park Avenue this week, but the developer is already envisioning great things for the building — including unprecedented $250 per foot rents.

The firm told Crain’s that it plans to ask $250 or more for space on the spec building’s upper floors.

“This will be the Patek Philippe of office buildings,” said David Levinson, chair of L&L. “This building is all about sustainability and wellness and productivity. The people who work in this building will be the most productive in the city.”

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Currently, only a few buildings have managed to break $200 per foot, including Boston Properties’ General Motors Building, Sheldon Solow’s 9 West 57th Street, and Leonard Stern’s 667 Madison Avenue. But these rates are just north of $200, and no building has ever attempted to ask in the mid-$200s.

“If you look at 9 West and the GM Building and the Seagram Building, they’re great architecturally and very important, but they’re 50 years old or more,” Levinson said. “This building is all about the future.”

The groundbreaking ceremony for the 670,000-square-foot tower featured 9 a.m. sake shots. [Crain’s] — Tess Hofmann