Canadian pension fund Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, or OMERS, is opening its first American office at 320 Park Avenue near 51st Street, the fund announced, in hopes of expanding its presence in private market investments in the U.S.

OMERS manages $53 billion in assets, including $10 billion in the United States. Canadians have been active of late in the New York market, and real estate watchers might recognize OMERS’ investment arm, Oxford Properties Group, which partnered with the Related Companies on the 12 million-square-foot development of Hudson Yards. – Adam Fusfeld… [more]

From left: 440 Ninth Avenue, 320 Park Avenue and 515 Madison Avenue

Commercial brokerage Newmark Knight Frank has been named the exclusive leasing agent for 440 Ninth Avenue, an 18-story, 390,000-square-foot building on the corner of 35th Street, while private equity investment firm Kelso & Company has signed a 12-year lease for 41,073 square feet at 320 Park Avenue on the corner of 51st Street. Also, CB Richard Ellis has been named one of Fortune magazine’s most admired companies, the brokerage announced today. Click here for more. TRD… [more]

From left, 11 Times Square, 320 Park Avenue, 1 Bryant Park and CBRE’s Peter Turchin

The
downturn has sharply reduced the premium rent asked by landlords of
about two dozen of Midtown’s … [more]

In welcome news for Manhattan commercial real estate owners, the amount of sublet space on the market fell in February for the fourth month in a row, according to new data from Cassidy Turley. There was 15.2 million square feet of sublet space available — mostly from financial companies that are shrinking within their Class A office buildings — as of the end of the month, down 11 percent from the 17.1 million square feet on the market in October, the data show. Because the available inventory is seen as desirable, the firm is predicting further declines: JPMorgan Chase’s 150,000 square feet at 320 Park Avenue is nearing a deal, said Richard Bernstein, a vice chairman at Cassidy Turley, which is also representing the bank in the transaction. Sublet space tends to be cheaper than typical lease space, and has
played a large role in depressing office rents across the city. “The absorption of sublet space toward the end of the year will decline [as supply diminishes],” Bernstein said. [Crain’s]