Billionaire George Soros’ investment firm has taken just under 100,000 square feet at Boston Properties’ 250 West 55th Street. Soros Fund Management will take the spec office tower’s penthouse, on the 38th floor, and also floors 26 through 28 in the 15-year deal.
The firm will pay rents north of $100 per square foot at the million-square-foot building, Crain’s reported. Hanley Advisors’ principals Jim Coleman and Steve Kaufman represented Soros Fund in the deal, while Boston Properties was represented in-house by Andrew Levin in conjunction with a CBRE team.
Meanwhile, Middle Eastern news giant Al Jazeera is close to nabbing a 50,000-square-foot space on the entire second floor of the building, according to Crain’s. Al Jazeera – which has been searching for a U.S. headquarters since earlier this year, and has considered spaces such as the former New York Times building at 229 West 43rd Street – would use the space as its main New York newsroom and television production facility. It had initially been in talks to take up to 200,000 square feet at the building, according to previous reports. [Crain’s] – Hiten Samtani