Meet Manhattans new apex-office aiming to smash leasing price records
The newest entrant to Manhattan’s office pipeline is poised to set a pricing benchmark at the very top of the market.Related Companies is marketing its forthcoming 52-story tower at 625 Madison Ave.
with asking rents that could reach an unprecedented $400 per square foot on the uppermost floors.The 840,000-square-foot project will target premier tenants in the technology and financial sectors, with base rents beginning around $250 per square foot and escalating sharply with elevation — ultimately delivering what would be the highest office asking rents ever recorded in New York City.The development is a partnership between Related and Andrew Mathias, the former president of SL Green Realty, who oversaw the development of One Vanderbilt adjacent to Grand Central Terminal.That skyscraper recently secured a second lease exceeding $300 per square foot, underscoring the continued strength of the top-tier office market.The Madison Avenue site carries both history and sentiment.
The prior building housed Revlon and once served as Related’s headquarters.Today, the firm is led by CEO Jeff Blau, while founder Stephen Ross has shifted focus to ventures in South Florida and ownership of the Miami Dolphins.Strategically positioned between East 58th and 59th streets, the site bridges the Plaza District’s commercial core and the über-luxury residential corridor known as Billionaires’ Row.Initially conceived as a slender, tall residential tower, the project has since been reimagined — reflecting renewed demand for high-end office space — into a state-of-the-art, carbon-neutral commercial building, supported in part by investment by a Saudi sovereign wealth fund.The design team has also evolved.
Foster + Partners and Gensler — the latter also on Related’s 70 Hudson Yards — have been selected to create what is envisioned as the signature trophy tower to rule them all.The structure features curved glass corners, polished steel framing and integrated greenery de...