Law firm Duval & Stachenfeld LLP is preparing to move to new offices at 555 Madison Avenue, also known as the Coates Building, in the pricey Plaza District.
The company signed a 13-year lease for 50,000 s/f of space in 2011, but the move was delayed until this month.
At the time, managing partner Bruce Stachenfeld said, “I can’t claim to have a crystal ball, however I like the idea of locking in our leasing costs now (20 months ahead of time) rather than taking my chances on the leasing market in a year.”
Asking rents in the building were then “around $59 a square foot,” according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Robert A.B. Baraf, who repped landlord The Rodney Corporation with Mark Mandell and Ethan Silverstein. Plaza District asking rents today stand at $77.17 psf, according to most recent figures from Colliers International Realty.
Studley’s Paul Revson, Zev Holzman and Zach Reiner represented Duval & Stachenfeld and negotiated what they called “a favorable financial package” that included “a healthy work letter as well as a significant period of free rent.”
Revson said it was a win-win. “The deal was propitious for the landlord who now has secured in advance a signed lease from a credit-worthy law firm for 14 years, and equally beneficial for Duval, which will be moving to prestigious Midtown headquarters.”
The lease was handled internally for Duval & Stachenfeld by Real Estate Group partner Eric G. Menkes. Duval & Stachenfeld, LLP, which as one of the largest real estate practices in the city and offers a range of practice areas, will occupy the entire sixth and seventh floors of the 448,352 s/f, 32-story building located at East 56th Street.
Stachenfeld said, “We really like the building – we really like our new location – and we believe the Coates family will be excellent landlords.
Other law firms at 55 Madison include Weil Gothshal & Manges and Rivkin Radler LLP. Other tenants include Dreyfus Foundation and ME Zuckerman.
