Allen & Overy was getting ready to move its offices when Covid-19 made the law firm hit pause.
The law firm, which is headquartered in London, was close to signing a lease at Tishman Speyer’s 630 Fifth Avenue before the coronavirus pandemic hit New York City, according to sources. Instead, Allen & Overy negotiated a five-year lease extension to its current 143,331-square-foot space at Rockefeller Group’s 1221 Sixth Avenue.
JLL’s Frank Doyle, Ken Siegel and Cynthia Wasserberger represented the law firm, while a team lead by Cushman & Wakefield’s Rob Lowe represented the Rockefeller Group along with Ed Guiltinan in-house. The companies declined or did not respond to requests for comment. Tishman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In 2015, Rockefeller Group completed a $30 million capital improvement program at 1221 Sixth Avenue, also known as the McGraw-Hill Building. Upgrades to the 1.65 million-square-foot office tower include a new lobby, elevator cabs, a destination dispatch elevator system and renovated outdoor plazas. Other tenants include law firms White & Case, Dentons and Mayer Brown, as well as Comcast and SiriusXM.
Tishman Speyer’s 630 Fifth — also known as 45 Rockefeller Plaza and the International Building — has availabilities on some of its upper floors. Family wealth advisor Bessemer Trust is moving from its Fifth Avenue office to Rockefeller Group’s 1271 Avenue of the Americas, formerly the Time and Life Building.
That space became the subject of Allen & Overy’s attention. But it would have required a lengthy interior construction process and that Bessemer move out on time. Just above Bessemer’s offices, a fully renovated — and pricier — duplex which boasts several outdoor terraces is also available.
The deal at Tishman Speyer’s 41-story office tower is just the latest to fall by the wayside as the pandemic gives investors and tenants pause.
One of the most notable cancelled deals in recent months was Jacob Chetrit’s $815 million buy of the Daily News building. Chetrit had to back out of the deal to buy the office tower from SL Green Realty when financing from Deutsche Bank fell through. He is now attempting to recover his deposit.
Brokerage giant Realogy Holdings is suing SIRVA for trying to back out of a $400 million deal to buy relocation firm Cartus. And Dajia, the company that now oversees Chinese firm Anbang’s investments, is suing South Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments for trying to back out of a $5.8 billion hotel acquisition.
Lois Weiss writes the real estate column “Between the Bricks ®.”