Architect Henry Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, a rendering of the lobby and a rendering of Seven Bryant Park

From the January issue: Some years back, when the formidable One Bryant Park was just a mock-up in the offices of the architectural firm of Cook + Fox, I wrote a somewhat dismissive assessment of it that I have subsequently come to regret. Indeed, once built, the Bank of America Tower, as it’s also called, turned out to be far better than I had expected. For that reason I understand the perils of judging a building when it exists only in renderings. There’s an impulse for renderings to promise too much; 49 out of 50 buildings look better as renderings than they do in reality.[more]

Bryant Park

Office rents are rising near Bryant Park and that area is outperforming the rest of Midtown, a new report shows.

A Jones Lang LaSalle study found Bryant Park’s vacancy at just 3.8 percent in the second quarter of 2012 — a third of Midtown’s 11.5 vacancy rate. In that same period, rents around the park were $78.29 per square foot, compared to Manhattan’s $63.40 average rent per square-foot, the New York Times reported. Bryant Park stands in particular contrast to the traditionally strong Plaza district, which has been seeing high vacancy rates. [more]

Edward Minskoff and a rendering of 51 Astor Place

Edward Minskoff’s Minskoff Equities has closed on a construction loan valued at between $165 and $200 million with Bank of America for 51 Astor Place, the real estate company’s new office development near Cooper Union, the New York Observer reported.

Minskoff is confident in the success of the 400,000-square-foot property, which is slated to be completed by 2013, he said, despite not having signed any tenants so far.

“It will surpass the Bank of America building [at One Bryant Park] in some ways,” he said. To some brokers, rents at 51 Astor Place, which will range from about $88 to $115 per square foot, the Observer said, seem a little high. … [more]

Officials from the city’s Economic Development Corp. met with the leaders of several Chinese firms yesterday for a Midtown Manhattan real estate office tour that included One Bryant Park and the Empire State Building, part of a larger, recent effort to attract foreign tenants to New York. According to the Wall Street Journal, the city is focusing on companies it sees as having big potential for growth. It has already courted a group of technology start-ups from London, and has plans to host businesses from Singapore and India in the coming months. … [more]

Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have sold $650 million in bonds tied to a loan at One Bryant Park, the 51-story, 2.1 million-square-foot skyscraper on Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street also known as the Bank of America Tower. According to Bloomberg, the issue was only the third sale this year of new commercial mortgage-backed securities that contained loans not backed by the government. With the One Byrant Park deal, sales of this kind total $1.67 billion nationwide thus far for 2010. Last year, $3.04 billion of debt was issued, down from $11.2 billion in 2008 and the record-breaking $232.4 billion in 2007. [Bloomberg] 

… [more]

Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have sold $650 million in bonds tied to a loan at One Bryant Park, the 51-story, 2.1 million-square-foot skyscraper on Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street also known as the Bank of America Tower. According to Bloomberg, the issue was only the third sale this year of new commercial mortgage-backed securities that contained loans not backed by the government. With the One Byrant Park deal, sales of this kind total $1.67 billion nationwide thus far for 2010. Last year, $3.04 billion of debt was issued, down from $11.2 billion in 2008 and the record-breaking $232.4 billion in 2007. [Bloomberg] 

… [more]

One Bryant Park

One Bryant Park is the first commercial office tower in the U.S. to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the U.S. Green Building Council, the Durst Organization and Bank of America announced today. The 55-story, 2.1 million-square-foot skyscraper on Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street, also known as the Bank of America Tower, was designed by Cook + Fox Architects with an on-site cogeneration plant, ice storage system, “high-performance glass curtain wall” and an “advanced under-floor air delivery system.” The building was refinanced with a $1.28 billion three-year loan in June, in what was believed to be one of the largest single, private financing deals since the 2007 credit market freeze. The co-owners are reportedly nearing a deal to refinance the tower again with a 10-year, $1.3 billion loan from JPMorgan Chase. TRD

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Bank of America is nearing a deal to refinance its eponymous tower at One Bryant Park for the second time in just 10 months, Crain’s reported. The 51-story office tower was last refinanced with a $1.28 billion three-year loan in June, in what was believed to be one of the largest single, private financing deals since the 2007 credit market freeze. This time around, the bank and its co-owner, the Durst Organization, are looking to obtain a 10-year, $1.3 billion loan from JPMorgan Chase. … [more]

The New York Observer looked at how the values of New York City’s 10
priciest office towers have shifted since spring 2007. At that time,
real estate professionals surveyed agreed that the GM Building at 767
Fifth Avenue was worth at least $4 billion. Today, based on its
reported income, the building is worth between $1.9 billion and $2.6
billion. Overall, the value of trophy office buildings, including 9
West 57th Street, Rockefeller Center, 200 Park Avenue and One Bryant
Park, has fallen between 25 and 60 percent. … [more]

The New York Observer interviews Dan Tishman, chairman and CEO of
Tishman Construction. The firm has had or will have a hand in a number
of upcoming projects, including the Javits Center renovation, One Bryant Park and
the World Trade Center redevelopment. Tishman lives part-time on a llama farm in
Maine and had considered a career working with wildlife, but chose to go
into business instead. Tishman said he expects the real estate
industry, and the world as a whole, to see a “resettling” as the
recession continues. His company has not taken on a lot of debt, he
said, but it is still in the middle of a backlog of projects taken on
during the boom…. [more]