BY LAUREN N. JOHNSON
New York City-based ABS Partners Real Estate, LLC, has brought a year-long leasing program to a close with 100% occupancy at 20 West 22nd Street, a 180,000 s/f property in the Flatiron District.
With a flurry of seven leases signed in the past few weeks, the leasing team — led by John Gols, executive managing director, with Jason Fein, associate managing director, and Hector Rodriguez, managing director — said a major capital improvement program has helped transform the former printers’ building into a home for 21st century creative and media types.
“The building is being upgraded — aesthetically, mechanically and technologically — to meet the needs of today’s tenant,” said Rodriguez.
“Constructed 100 years ago, its was designed and built to serve as home for several of the city’s large printing companies.
Today we count architects, marketing and creative companies, technology startups, public relations and advertising firms as our tenants.
Similar to the former printers, these companies are creating products for New Yorkers and the nation, but are using computers, telephones and technology to do so.”
Gols said that the marketing plan had always been to target growing “creative type” tenants.
He said tenants were attracted by the building’s high ceilings, new lobby areas, and city views from large, bay windows and open space are traits that attracted them to the firm’s bustling Flatiron location.
Adam Chandler, chief financial officer of Martini Media, a digital media platform catering to luxury advertisers that recently signed a 3,634 s/f leased at the building said the space was ideal for his company’s growing operations, adding, “ABS Partners was very responsive to our needs in finding a central location that is a hub for savvy and creative companies in our industry.”
Mobile Internet company, Bango, also just leased 2,407 s/f for its U.S. operations, along with, Paris New York, Inc., an advertising agency that rented 1,349 s/f.
The current capital improvement program includes the conversion of the building’s two freight elevators to automated passenger cars, doubling the building’s passenger capacity and providing tenants with two lobbies operating 24-hours, seven days a week.
On the technology front, the building’s management team has been working to increase the variety, capacity and redundancy of voice and data connections available to tenants.
20 West 22nd Street now has redundant high capacity connectivity via microwave point-to-point, fiber optic, coax-cable and copper lines.
Other planned improvements in the 17-story building include full renovation of all bathrooms on shared floors as well as a new signage initiative, the design of which will create a uniform look throughout building while allowing for the individual creativity of the tenants.
Rodriguez explained. “The signage will be uniform and professional, but still reflect the creative nature of the tenancy.”
Asking rents at 20 West 22nd range from $36s psf to $43s, according to leasing agents.
Building renovations are excepted to be fully complete by the end of this year. Tenants at the property include Real Estate Weekly, Calumet Photographic Inc. and Broadstreet Productions LLC.