Waterman inks 75-year master lease deal at 400 Park Ave.

Waterman Interests has signed a new 75-year deal with Benenson Capital Partners for the master lease at 400 Park Avenue, the New York Post reported.

The Benenson family has owned the East 54th Street site since 1971. In 2010, Tod Waterman along with some institutional investors paid $35 million to RFR Realty for the leasehold on the 270,000-square-foot property. At the time, the leasehold had 17 years remaining.

The parties declined to comment on the lease terms to the Post, but said that the agreement would be mutually beneficial.

After discount retailer Syms – which anchored the building – went belly-up, Waterman repositioned the lower floors to cater to financial firms, and invested $20 million into capital improvements, which led to 100,000 square feet of new leasing, according to the Post.

“Benenson recognized that with our stewardship of the asset, it would make a lot of sense for us to collaborate to put the property on a different path,” Waterman said at the time.

Benenson COO Richard Kessler praised Waterman after the repositioning. “Tod was willing to invest capital with or without a lease extension. 400 Park had always troubled me because it was like a poor cousin in close proximity to iconic buildings such as Seagram and Lever House.” [NYP] –Hiten Samtani