Citadel Securities expands nearby lease while waiting on 425 Park

L&L expects temporary certificate of occupancy by summer

From left: L&L Holding Company's 425 Park Avenue with CEO David Levinson, Citadel Securities founder Ken Griffin, and Vornado Realty Trust’s 350 Park Avenue with CEO Steve Roth (Credit: (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images; L&L Holding Company; Vornado)
From left: L&L Holding Company's 425 Park Avenue with CEO David Levinson, Citadel Securities founder Ken Griffin, and Vornado Realty Trust’s 350 Park Avenue with CEO Steve Roth (Credit: (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images; L&L Holding Company; Vornado)

As construction at L&L Holding Company’s 425 Park Avenue nears the finish line, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities is inking a three-year extension at its current home five blocks south, in a move that will likely ease its upcoming transition to the $1 billion office development.

Citadel Securities, a financial firm which is distinct from Griffin’s similarly named hedge-fund business Citadel, is doubling its existing 60,000 square foot sublease at Vornado Realty Trust’s 350 Park Avenue, Crain’s reported. The firm will be leasing directly from the landlord under the new deal.

Meanwhile, both Citadel Securities and Citadel are set to begin buildout at their future home.

“Much of the building is already operational,” L&L chairman and CEO David Levinson told the publication, noting that floors at the property have been turned over to Griffin’s firms. “Citadel’s plans have been approved and we expect them to start construction in the near future”

Levinson expects the building to receive a temporary certificate of occupancy by the summer.

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Last year, Citadel dispelled some of the speculation around its commitment to the long-delayed development with a 124,000-square-foot expansion of its 211,400-square-foot lease. Construction on the project, the first new development on the avenue in 50 years, had been slowed down by the need to integrate an existing structure into the new 47-story building

Last fall, the ground underneath 425 Park Avenue was sold to a joint venture between iStar-managed real estate investment trust Safehold and an unnamed sovereign wealth fund for $620 million, in a deal that helped put the rapidly expanding ground lease REIT on the map in Manhattan.

In light of the recent rezoning of Midtown East, Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management, which owns 40 East 52nd Street next door, have considered demolishing their existing buildings to build a 1,450-foot tower at 350 Park Avenue. [Crain’s] — Kevin Sun