Investment Firm Doubles Space at 655 Third Ave.

Investment firm doubles space at 655 Third Ave.

A growing tenant takes the other half of a floor it has occupied for three years. The deal is one of two recently completed at the 56-year-old tower that was the Durst family’s first office property.

By Daniel Geiger

Published: April 23, 2013

A boutique investment firm is doubling its footprint at 655 Third Ave. Marathon Ventures will take the property’s entire 7,340-square-foot 19th floor, where the tenant has been leasing half the floor for three years.

“They think they’re going to need the space to accommodate their growth,” said Karen Kuznick, a leasing executive at The Durst Organization who handled the deal for the landlord. “We definitely want to help tenants grow and accommodate them in the hope that they’ll remain at the property and continue to expand.”

As part of the deal, Marathon Ventures extended its lease at the property on the corner of East 42nd Street until 2015. Originally it had been set to expire at the end of this year. Asking rent for the floor was $56 per square foot. Marathon Ventures negotiated the deal without a broker, working directly with The Durst Organization.

The lease is one of two recently signed at the 29-story, 425,000-square-foot property, which was the first commercial office building developed by the Durst family, back in the late 1950s.

Golden Arc Money Managers just signed on for the entire 21st floor, a 7,318-square-foot space. Asking rent for that floor was also $56 per square foot. The tenant will take the space for about 10 years.

Wayne Van Aken and Robert Yaffa, brokers with Cassidy Turley, represented the tenant in that deal.

Details

Tenant Marathon Ventures

Tenant brokerage firm No representation

Square feet 7,340 sq ft.

Floor 19

Total Floors in Building 29

Asking rent $56 per sq ft.

Type of Deal Lease

Industry Commercial Real Estate

Lease length Two years

Neighborhood Grand Central

Landlord Durst Organization

Landlord brokerage firm In-house representation

Landlord broker(s) Karen Kuznick