Weill Cornell Tacks on 100K SF at 575 Lexington Avenue

Weill Cornell Medicine agreed to a deal in a booster for the owners of 575 Lexington Avenue.

The medical institution renewed 200,000 square feet at the Midtown office property while adding another 100,000 square feet to its footprint, the New York Post reported. The renewal accounts for administrative space, while the addition is for patient care facilities expected to open by 2025.

Asking rents ranged from the mid-$70s to low $80s per square foot. The leases bring the 35-story, 745,000-square-foot property up to 88 percent leased. Other tenants at the building include Warshaw Burstein LLP and Blue Owl Capital, as well as Duane Reade in the retail space.

Newmark’s David Falk and Andrew Sachs were among those to represent Weill Cornell. Ownership was represented by Peter Duncan and Dana Pike of George Comfort & Sons, one of the owners of the property.

The joint venture ownership also includes Cannon Hill Capital Partners. Prior to the pandemic, the ownership group — including Normandy Real Estate Partners and Angelo Gordon & Co. — put the tower up for sale, hoping to get at least $650 million for it. The building is within the boundaries of the 2017 Midtown East rezoning.

Normandy purchased the property with New York Life Insurance Company from Silverstein Properties and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System in 2012 for $360 million. Following a recapitalization in 2015, New York Life left, while Angelo Gordon and George Comfort joined.

Finding office tenants has been a slog for Manhattan landlords. The third quarter brought positive news in the form of a 26 percent increase in leasing activity from the second quarter, according to Colliers. But much of that was upheld by two large leases and availability remained at record highs.

As for Weill Cornell, the medical institution is working on a 16-story, 221-unit dormitory on the Upper East Side. The project is expected to come with a $260 million price tag.

— Holden Walter-Warner