Carlyle Expands Midtown Footprint With 202K SF Leases

Private equity heavyweight Carlyle Group is bulking up in Midtown.

The investment firm signed leases totaling over 200,000 square feet across two Park Avenue towers, including a 150,000-square-foot deal at SL Green Realty’s 245 Park Avenue, the Commercial Observer reported. The 10-year lease in Midtown signals continued demand from finance tenants for high-end office space near Grand Central.

Carlyle also picked up another 52,000 square feet at Irvine Company’s 200 Park Avenue, better known as the MetLife Building. At that property, Carlyle will share part of the fourth floor with MetLife, which renewed roughly 400,000 square feet in the building in 2023.

Together, the transactions add up to about 202,000 square feet and represent expansion rather than relocation; the firm is keeping its existing 195,000-square-foot space at SL Green’s One Vanderbilt, where it occupies multiple floors in the trophy tower.

At 245 Park Avenue, asking rents were about $175 per square foot. The MetLife Building space commanded asking rents closer to $100 per square foot, underscoring the pricing gap between Park Avenue’s renovated but older stock and the newest trophy towers like One Vanderbilt, where asking rents can exceed $300 per square foot.

Brokerage teams from Cushman & Wakefield represented SL Green in the 245 Park transaction, while CBRE handled leasing for Irvine Company at 200 Park. Carlyle was represented by JLL.

The deal adds momentum to leasing activity for SL Green, which has been working to fill space across its Midtown portfolio. The landlord recently signed a 16-year expansion with law firm McDermott Will & Emery for roughly 30,000 square feet at One Vanderbilt, bringing the firm’s footprint there to about 200,000 square feet.

SL Green also landed investment advisory firm Cliffwater for nearly 38,000 square feet at 245 Park Avenue.

The firm acquired the 1.7-million-square-foot 245 Park Avenue property out of bankruptcy in 2022 and sold 50 percent of the equity in 2023 to Japanese developer Mori Trust in a deal that valued the tower at $2 billion. SL Green is looking to sell a 25 percent stake.

— Holden Walter-Warner