C21 expands with move from Madison Avenue to near Grand Central

Marc Lewis, president and CEO of Century 21 NY Metro and his company’s new office at 228 East 45th Street (building photo source: PropertyShark)

Century 21 NY Metro is relocating to a 13,000-square-foot office at 228 East 45th Street, the company announced today.
The sales and rental company, which has around 150 agents and staff, will vacate its current space at 575 Madison Avenue June 1, according to President and CEO Marc Lewis. The new office is some 40 percent larger and can house up to 200 people, Lewis said.

The asking rent for the new space is listed on CoStar as $29.50 per foot. Lewis would not comment on the taking rent, but said it was comparable to what the company is paying now.

Since the recession hit, a number of real estate companies have switched locations to take advantage of lower rents for office space.

Aside from offering more space for a comparable price, Century 21’s new office — on 45th Street between Second and Third avenues — is “in a much better location,” Lewis said.

“This is really a neighborhood for shopping bags,” he said of the company’s current Madison Avenue location, between 56th and 57th streets. But the new space is near Grand Central, convenient for millions of commuters and Midtown office workers. “My clients can leave their desks for an hour and come to the office,” he said. “It’s better for what we do.”

The Company Has Occupied The Madison Avenue space since the 2006 merger of Dwelling Quest and Century 21 Kevin B. Brown that created Century 21 NY Metro. In June 2009, the company added a new commercial real estate division and absorbed a small Queens firm, Lewis said.

As a result, the company has outgrown the Madison Avenue space, Lewis said.

“I’m using the conference room for commercial leasing,” he said, adding: “right now, somebody comes for an interview and I don’t have a desk for them.”