From left: 229 West 43rd Street and Paul Amrich, vice chairman at CBRE

In a down office leasing market, landlords are not only offering more in the way of tenant incentives — such as paying for a tenant’s build out — they are getting more creative about what sorts of incentives to offer, the Wall Street Journal reported.

For instance, at 229 West 43rd Street, landlord Blackstone Group is willing to create outdoor terraces and private entrances and is even considering letting workers bring their dogs to work, the paper said. [more]

Financial firm Thiam Management inked a deal for nearly 6,000 square feet at 510 Madison Avenue, for a price in the $90s-per-square-foot range, Real Estate Weekly reported. The space represents one of two pre-built office units on the eighth floor of the 30-story, 350,000-square-foot property. The other eighth floor space was recently leased to a financial firm called Africa Global for about the same price. “The leasing on the eighth floor is supportive of the continued interest in the building,” said Paul Amrich, an executive vice president at CB Richard Ellis, who along with Kerry Powers, represents the building’s landlord, Boston Properties. Real Estate Weekly notes that the renewed interest shows the building has come along way since funding issues plagued 510 Madison when it was controlled by Macklowe Properties. [more]

From left: Paul Amrich of CBRE, 510 Madison Avenue and JLL’s Cynthia Wasserberger
A series of leases signed late last year at 510 Madison Avenue, for well over $100 a square foot, signifies a turnaround for the 350,000-square-foot building and may be a sign of recovery for Manhattan’s overall high-end office market, brokers told the New York Times. The office tower at 53rd Street, which was once owned by developer Harry Macklowe, was taken over by Boston Properties in September. “Boston Properties had the vision to buy the building at a time in the market five months ago when even then people were very cautious about $100 rents,” said Paul Amrich, an executive vice president at CB Richard Ellis, which is representing 510 Madison. “But they knew the trophy status of the building and the location of the building would prove that we would get to those rents again.” [more]

From left: Robert Futterman and 229 West 43rd Street; Chase Welles and East River Plaza; and Jedd Nero and 798 11th Avenue

The Real Estate Board of New York announced the nine contenders for its “Retail Deal of the Year” awards today, a competition that honors ingenious and influential real estate transactions (click here to see the full list of contenders). Included in the list was the controversial deal at the Times Square building at 229 West 43rd Street, through which retail brokerage Lansco claims it was cheated out of a $1 million commission. Robert Futterman of the eponymous firm represented the property owner, Africa Israel, in the deal and was named in the nomination. Other top deals submitted included the Costco lease at East River Plaza at 521 East 116th Street and the Volkswagen Group lease at 798 Eleventh Avenue.
[more]

Cushman & Wakefield COO Joseph Harbert

CB Richard Ellis executives gave a more positive view of Manhattan office leasing than uptown rival Cushman & Wakefield, during each firm’s third-quarter market breakfast briefing this week. Paul Amrich, executive vice president at CBRE, highlighted a decrease in tenant improvement contributions and a $0.06 decline in asking rents in Midtown, the smallest decline all year. “Historically when you see concessions start to level or go back that is a sign the market is starting to find the bottom,” he said at the firm’s Midtown office today. “The next move would be that rents find the bottom. The hope is that some time in 2010 we will see some slight growth.” In contrast, the day before, Cushman & Wakefield COO Joseph Harbert said despite an uptick in third-quarter leasing activity, 2009 would end up at about 16 million square feet leased, or about 10 million square feet below a “healthy” year. “Unfortunately, that would make us the weakest leasing year in about 13 years,” Harbert said. “There is no way to sugarcoat it.” [more]