Consumer Goods Company Locks Up 62K SF in Midtown

George Comfort & Sons has got the goods at its newly renovated office building in the Theater District, signing a “consumer goods company” to a long-term lease.

The landlord announced the 62,000-square-foot lease at 135 West 50th Street, a recently renovated, 1960s-era building a block west of Rockefeller Center, but did not specify the tenant or the asking rent for the space.

An in-house team including Matt Coudert and Andrew Conrad represented George Comfort, while Savills’ Jeffrey Peck and Daniel Horowitz represented the tenant, which will move into the building in the fourth quarter.

The owners recently updated the building’s lobby and entrances while creating a 20,000-square-foot tenant amenities center run by Industrious. The center includes a multipurpose room, collaborative workspaces, conference rooms, a game room and lounge areas.

A food hall is also under construction at the 925,000-square-foot building and is set to open this summer.

Industrious hopped on board in 2020, signing on for two spaces. One of the deals was a 15-year management contract for the tenant amenity center, known as “Club 135 by Industrious.” The flex-office startup also signed a 15-year deal for 37,000 square feet on the second floor of the 23-story property, where it runs a shared workspace.

Other tenants in the building include Mazars, USA LLP and Volunteers of America.

The beleaguered Manhattan office market continues to struggle two years into the pandemic, boasting a record 19 percent availability rate in the first quarter, according to Savills.

But some tenants are still grabbing space, including the New York Public Library, which will lease 41,000 square feet from ABS Partners Real Estate at 270 Madison Avenue in a deal announced this week.

George Comfort & Sons has faced problems outside the city, narrowly escaping foreclosure at its Westchester office campus last year. A $134 million refinancing staved off a UCC filing by its mezzanine lender, an affiliate of Oaktree Capital Management, at the Centre at Purchase. Bank of America provided the $105 million mortgage loan, while RCG Longview added a $29 million mezzanine loan.