Hillary Clinton probably shouldn’t bank on a vote from executives at Westbrook Partners.
The investment firm refused to let the presidential nominee sublease the 32nd floor of its 444 Madison Avenue, the New York Post reported. Clinton had reached an eight-year agreement in 2014 to sublease the entire floor from Rainier Investment Management, which had leased the space for two years.
Though the deal was fairly far along, the landlord stepped in and blocked Clinton Executive Services Corp., a private company owned by the Clintons, from leasing the space, the Post reported.
Westbrook, whose founder Paul Kazilionis is a registered Republican, wouldn’t say if the decision was political, but indicated that the firm didn’t want to deal with such a famous tenant at the 42-story, 475,000-square-foot building.
“In light of the high profile nature of the proposed tenant, ownership determined that the burden and disruption to present tenants and building operations due to the level of additional security required was not in the building’s best interest,” Frank Marino, a spokesperson for Westbrook, told the Post.
Clinton has instead rented space at 120 West 45th Street, which at the time was owned by SL Green [TRDataCustom]. The REIT’s boss, Stephen Green, is a big-time Democratic donor. Clinton’s campaign leases about 78,000 square feet at Forest City Ratner’s 1 Pierrepont Plaza and pays $212,000 per month. [NYP] — Kathryn Brenzel
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the company that Frank Marino represents. It’s Westbrook.