With credit tight and the market on shaky legs, more commercial real estate investors are opting to improve existing properties before diving into new projects according to the New York Times. These upgrades — which can range from retrofitting to repurposing — have cropped up on prominent buildings across the city, including 200 Fifth Avenue, the one-time International Toy Center, and 475 Park Avenue, which is getting a $25 million renovation designed by noted architect Cesar Pelli. The projects can have long-term benefits for investors, according to Eugene Kohn, chairman of architecture firm Kohn Pederson Fox. “All these projects are taking existing structures and enhancing them, allowing the owners to get [a] much greater return on them,” Kohn said.

After 25 years, the Municipal Art Society of New York is swapping its Villard Houses headquarters at the Palace Hotel for the Steinway Hall Building at 111 West 57th Street. The non-profit urban design organization inked a 10-year, 12,749-square-foot lease for the 16th floor of the Warren & Wetmore-designed landmark, where it will replace architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, which is moving to Tishman Speyer’s 11 West 42nd Street. The entire Steinway Hall Building is in the midst of a rejuvenation right now, said Mark Lauzon of Cushman & Wakefield, who represented Steinway in the transaction. He said non-profits and foundations like the Municipal Art Society are flocking there in the wake of the Economist’s relocation to 730 Third Avenue. The asking rent on the new Municipal Art Society space was in the low $50s per foot. [more]