IBM subleases Midtown South floor from Carl Icahn-owned textile manufacturer

Computer giant IBM has signed a lease in Midtown South to take space occupied by a textile company owned by investor Carl Icahn. IBM inked a deal for the entire 54,045-square-foot eighth floor at 63 Madison Avenue, a 735,257-square-foot office building owned by George Comfort & Sons and Loeb Partners Realty.

The rent starts at $32 per square foot, sources said. The rate is far below the average price per square foot in Midtown South, which was $48.73 per square foot in October, figures from commercial firm Cassidy Turley show. One insider speculated it might be low because it was a sublease.

The computer firm is subleasing the space from WestPoint Home, a manufacturer of sheets and towels, which Icahn acquired in 2005 through a bankruptcy sale. The lease runs through June 2019, information from CoStar Group shows. WestPoint is consolidating on another floor of the building, also known as 28 East 28th Street, a source said.

CBRE Group brokers Jared Freede, Bill Iacovelli and Michael Monahan represented WestPoint. James Ackerson and Carl Eriksen, also of CBRE, represented IBM.

IBM is currently located at the 2.2 million-square-foot 11 Madison Avenue, three blocks south between East 24th and East 25th streets.

WestPoint and IBM did not respond to a request for comment. CBRE declined to comment.

Matt Coudert, an executive vice president at George Comfort, which was not directly involved in the sublease, said of the move that IBM’s “presence affirms the quality of the building, which can attract top tenants in the market.”