Hello, 3 Columbus

Tenants in line behind Young & Rubicam, as fortunes for troubled tower improve

From the January issue: The announcement early last month that advertising giant Young & Rubicam had signed for nearly 340,000 square feet of office space at 3 Columbus Circle, the former Newsweek Building, was a much-needed boost for the closely watched tower.

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The 26-story, 768,565-square-foot tower was, of course, famously at the center of a battle in 2010 between developer Joseph Moinian and the Related Companies’ Stephen Ross. After Moinian defaulted, Ross attempted to wrest control of the building from him by buying the note and having his partner file to foreclose. However, powerhouse landlord SL Green Realty stepped in as Moinian’s savior and paid off the mortgage to squelch the foreclosure. Moinian and SL Green, which is headed by Marc Holliday, successfully finished a $175 million renovation — which included doubling the size of the lobby and cladding the exterior in glass — in the early fall. [more]