William Blair leaving 666 Fifth for Edward Minskoff tower on Sixth Ave

Financial services firm William Blair & Company is leaving 666 Fifth Avenue for Edward Minskoff’s newly renovated office tower on Sixth Avenue.

William Blair signed a lease for slightly more than 40,000 square feet at Minskoff’s 1166 Sixth Avenue, the property’s leasing agents told The Real Deal.

The Chicago-based company is relocating from 666 Fifth Avenue, which Brookfield Office Properties took control of in August when it signed a long-term lease covering the office portion of the building with Kushner Companies.

Minskoff recently renovated the 1.6 million-square-foot tower between West 45th and West 46th streets, where he owns a commercial condominium covering the 2nd through 21st floors of the 44-story building with RXR Realty.

The landlord, an avid art collector, decked the property’s lobby with artworks by famed artists such as Roy Lichtentstein and street artist Kaws.

JLL’s Paul Glickman, who leads the team that handles leasing at the building, said the recent renovations are helping to draw tenants.

“The newly renovated lobby boasts extraordinary artwork that has distinguished the property within the surrounding community,” he said, adding that the property’s proximity to Bryant Park, Rockefeller Center and major community hubs are also strong selling points.

Glickman negotiated for the landlord along with his JLL colleagues Cynthia Wasserberger, Jonathan Fanuzzi, Diana Biasotti and Kristen Morgan. CBRE’s Silvio Petriello and Benjamin Friedland represented William Blair along with colleagues Ramneek Rikhy, Cara Chayet and Joe Fabrizi .

Minskoff also recently signed a 6,500 square-foot expansion in the building with D.E. Shaw, bringing the investment-management firm’s footprint in the tower to roughly 200,000 square feet.

And Cross Lake Partners, a new real estate investment firm that spun off earlier this year from billionaire hedge funder John Paulson’s Paulson & Co., signed a 5,300 square foot lease in the building for its first office.

Last year, Minskoff signed financial services firm Janney Montgomery Scott to 35,000 square feet at the tower.

William Blair is the latest tenant to eye an exit from 666 Fifth Avenue, which went through a tumultuous stretch under Kushner’s ownership.

Billionaire Israel Englander’s Millennium Management is looking to relocate from the tower to Boston Properties’ 399 Park Avenue.