Soloviev fills 100K sf at 9 West 57th with investment firm

The Soloviev Group has agreed to lease nearly 100,000 square feet at 9 West 57th Street to the global investment firm Davidson Kempner Capital Management, which will move from its 75,000-square-foot space at 520 Madison Avenue.

Davidson Kempner is taking the 24th, 28th and 29th floors of the high-end, 50-story office property between Fifth and Sixth avenues.

The move uptown was negotiated by Ben Friedland and Chris Corrinet of CBRE.

Soloviev’s 1.6 million-square-foot building, which offers sweeping views of Central Park, was represented by a CBRE team including Howard Fiddle and Robert Stillman.

The annual asking rent on the long-term deal was $180 per square foot for the two upper floors and $130 for the 24th.

At 30,000 square feet, the floor plates at 9 West 57th are larger than the 23,000-square-foot ones at 520 Madison, thus allowing the investment firm to grow without spreading out to additional floors.

Davidson Kempner swooped in and leased the space out from under the noses of King & Spalding, a law firm, which wanted more space but has been pondering another tower. It is being advised by Cushman & Wakefield.

The remaining space at the Soloviev building could not accommodate both the law firm and the investment firm, along with an unidentified third tenant.

“Kempner was super committed and the deal was incredibly quick,” said Fiddle.

The deal leaves the building close to full. Two and a half months ago, Soloviev leased 65,000 square feet to three tenants, which brought occupancy over 90 percent. 

It’s been quite a turnaround for the landlord’s flagship property since Stefan Soloviev took over the firm from his late father, Sheldon Solow, who built the tower in 1974. Solow was notoriously picky about who could lease at 9 West 57th and had a propensity to sue tenants. At one point, occupancy dropped into the neighborhood of 50 percent.

The enigmatic Soloviev has made leasing up the building a priority and said he is aiming for “the highest rents in the city” for the remaining space.

“He is always pushing rents but we are also transacting with world-class tenants,” said Fiddle. “We have activity on every remaining floor.”

Soloviev is finishing $45 million worth of upgrades along with the amenities that tenants now desire. He is also making an effort to stay on good terms with tenants, something his father was not known for.

“I met with [Davidson Kempner] personally for a long time and it will be a great relationship going forward,” he told TRD.

Soloviev, whose father died in November 2020, said when the building came under his purview there was a lot of “cleaning up” to do, including installing the amenity spaces and patching up differences with tenants.

“I’ve had personal communications with every CEO in the building,” said Soloviev, who gives his cell number to tenants so they can text him with any issues. “We were working at it for a long time.”

Architects Skidmore Owings Merrill, which designed the curved black and white tower, oversaw the updating of the lobby and elevator cabs and transformed the 27th floor into a conference and dining amenity floor.

One tenant suggested a video room meeting space; Soloviev created one for 150 people. “I had to fine tune it and it slowed us down a little,” he said, “along with the pool.”

There will be two pools, actually. In January, the landlord expects to open an 11,000-square-foot fitness area with natural light and hot and cold plunge pools.

Its restaurant, Cucina 8½, has been refreshed by Auguste Ceradini, and a pocket park on West 58th is being renovated and will have seating areas for dining by summer.

Davidson Kempner, founded by Marvin Davidson in 1983, has $37 billion under management. The firm had moved in 2014 to Tishman Speyer’s 520 Madison Avenue and expanded in 2018, but that lease expires soon, sources said.

Harrison Connery contributed reporting.