The Rockpoint Group is capitalizing on the boom in boutique offices as well as the Meatpacking District’s growing appeal as a base for creative and TAMI tenants, ditching plans for a hotel at 412 West 15th Street.
Along with hotel developer Highgate Holdings and property owner Meilman Family Real Estate, Rockpoint plans to construct a 130,000-square-foot boutique office building, with asking rents that could touch $150 a square foot.
The 18-story tower building will link to 85,000 square feet of office and retail space Rockpoint is creating at Several West 14th Street buildings, Crain’s reported.
The change of plans shouldn’t come as much of a surprise in the neighborhood. A number of tech and creative firms have made the Meatpacking District home in recent years, led by Google’s Alphabet, which has about 2 million square feet of space spread across four buildings.
Boutique offices like Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital’s 61 Ninth Avenue and Romanoff Equities and Property Group Partners’ 860 Washington Street are pushing for premium asking rents north of $140 a square foot.
The Meilman family, which has owned 412 West 15th Street since it was a meat distribution hub, filed plans in 2008 to build a 25-story, 158-room hotel with 108,979 square feet at the site. Rockpoint inked a 99-year lease for the site in 2014.
In August, the Meatpacking District’s BID reported that about 600,000 square feet of commercial space is expected to become available in the next five years.
Meilman has also partnered with Rockpoint on the three-story retail building at 421-435 West 14th Street, and a single-story commercial property at 436 West 15th Street.
CBRE’s Paul Amrich and Neil King will handle leasing at 412 West 15th Street. [Crain’s] — Dusica Sue Malesevic