Textile Building Lands Large Law Firm Lease After $350M Renovation
Global law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is relocating to a newly renovated, hundred-year-old Midtown South office building.
The law firm signed for 132K SF at 295 Fifth Ave., known as the Textile Building, which was renovated by new owners Tribeca Investment Group, PGIM Real Estate and Meadow Partners, according to a release.
The joint venture finished its $350M redevelopment of the 700K SF building in April. Quinn Emanuel is the first tenant to sign a lease in the building since its repositioning and will occupy the eighth through 10th floors.
Quinn Emanuel is moving from a similarly sized space at 51 Madison Ave., a Class-A property owned by New York Life Insurance Co., the New York Post reported. The lease is the largest relocation within Midtown South this year, according to CBRE, whose brokers worked on both sides of the deal.
“As technology firms have dialed back their leasing activity, the gap is being filled by firms from traditional industries that are realizing upgraded buildings in Midtown South bolster their initiatives to attract and retain talent,” CBRE CEO for the New York Tri-State Region Mary Ann Tighe said in a statement.
The 1920-built 295 Fifth Ave. features outdoor workspaces, flexible work zones inside the building and hospitality-focused amenities offerings, such as a ground-floor café, a library and access to a rear courtyard.
“We have worked painstakingly with a group of industry leaders to design and execute the redevelopment of 295 Fifth Avenue,” Elliott Ingerman, principal of Tribeca Investment Group, said in a statement. “It is a special asset, and we are committed to seeing this investment realize its potential. We are thrilled to attract a firm of Quinn Emanuel’s stature and it further validates our belief that the quality of the offering meets the priorities of the most discerning companies.”
The owners brought on architecture firm Studios Architecture to head up the redesign process, which included adding a two-story, 34K SF penthouse on top of the property’s original 17 stories.
Asking rents in the property weren't disclosed, but the New York Post reported they run from $95 per SF at the building's base to $135 per SF for the penthouse.
Asking rents in Midtown South ranged between $81.99 and $103.93 per SF in the third quarter, according to a Q3 Colliers report, although availability in the submarket remains higher than some of its competitors in Manhattan, at 18.6%.
“We are very excited to move into 295 Fifth, a stunning redevelopment of a historic building in the flourishing Nomad neighborhood that has long been our professional home,” Andrew Rossman and Jennifer Barrett, co-managing partners of Quinn Emanuel’s New York office, said in a statement.
The deal was put together by CBRE’s David Hollander, Peter Turchin, Mary Ann Tighe, Brett Shannon, Liz Lash and Hayden Pascal on behalf of building ownership. The brokerage’s Lewis Miller, Greg Maurer-Hollaender and Cara Chaye represented the tenant.
