Boston Properties’ tower tops off, courts Microsoft

Midtown’s first new office building in three years topped off last week and is coming closer to signing a second major tenant, the Wall Street Journal reported. Boston Properties’ forthcoming 1.1 million-square-foot tower, slated to open in 2014 at 250 West 55th Street, is being eyed by technology giant Microsoft and law firms Chadbourne & Parke, which nearly signed for space at 1 World Trade Center, and Kaye Scholer.

Last year Morrison Foerster signed for about 20 percent of the building’s space, which allowed construction to move forward.

The progress of the leasing effort at the building, along with Edward Minskoff’s structure rising at 51 Astor Place in the Village, is being watched closely as an indicator of the city’s new office development market. The success of those buildings could be a harbinger of things to come for the offices rising at the World Trade Center, Related Companies’ Hudson Yards, Brookfield’s Manhattan West and other future development.

Microsoft, too, is being watched closely because its lease at 1290 Sixth Avenue expires in 2014 and needs at least 200,000 square feet. [WSJ, 1st item]