Mary Ann Tighe & The Mythical Flood Of Supply
Yesterday, CBRE New York Tri-State CEO Mary Ann Tighe (whom we snapped with H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture founder Hugh Hardy inShearman & Sterling's 599 Lex offices) said three office leases will likely close by month's end at Hudson Yards, making the Coach Building (to deliver in 2015) 83% occupied. She reminded attendees at the ULI panel on Midtown East rezoning that Related, Extell, and Brookfield won't build without tenant commitments. Same for 2 WTC, where she says large users are looking but for the end of the decade.
We also snapped SL Green leasing director Steve Durels and Columbia Unversity Center for Urban Real Estate director Vishaan Chakrabarti. If Midtown East upzoning passes, it doesn't mean buildings are going to pop out of the ground immediately. Mary Ann points out that the best building to start with is 425 Park, "a dog of a building," where all leases come due in 2015. But the current sunrise provision wouldn't allow the first building permit to be pulled until 2017. SL Green's 750 Third Ave is another option, but even with demo clauses, Steve says, it would take years to wind down a building.
