CBRE Latest to Sign Lease at Revamped Lever House

WatermanClark and Brookfield Properties are welcoming CBRE to Lever House as the latest prominent tenant at 390 Park Avenue.

The commercial real estate services firm signed a deal for 64,000 square feet at the Midtown East property, the company announced ahead of the weekend. CBRE partnered with co-working provider Industrious on the deal; asking rent and lease length were not disclosed.

CBRE’s Silvio Petriello represented the tenant in-house, according to the Commercial Observer, while a CBRE team including John Maher and Peter Turchin represented the landlords. CBRE expects to move in by the end of the year.

Across the six-floor lease, CBRE’s investment management team will be housed across four floors. The other two will take on the form of an Industrious flex workspace geared towards senior executives.

The model is a managed fixed-flex lease, where Industrious will lead the design, buildout and operations. The presence of the Industrious space will then give CBRE the opportunity to expand if needed; CBRE will also take a share of the profits generated by the Industrious’ space.

Industrious CEO Jamie Hodari said in a statement that the model could “point the way forward for a new kind of corporate HQ.”

First and foremost, however, the deal points towards the significance of quality in today’s office market.

Brookfield and WatermanClark took over the ground lease at Lever House in 2020. The landlords shepherded the iconic property through a $100 million overhaul after all of the previous leases ended and tenants left, bringing in Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to design the gut-renovated building.

Among the updates, hospitality and wellness amenities were added to the third floor. The developers also renovated the lobby on the ground floor.
Financial firms — whose interests are piqued by trophy buildings and the high price it costs to join them — quickly flocked to Lever House. By last November, global wealth management firm Northern Trust leased 35,000 square feet, while Quantum Energy Group and One Investment Management signed leases for roughly 11,000 square feet each; the leases were believed to be around $200 per square foot.