The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is in talks to relocate to 2 Park Avenue, according to sources.
ASME currently has space at 3 Park Avenue, a nearby building owned by the landlord Charles Cohen. The tenant, a professional organization for mechanical engineers that was founded in the 1880s, will take a little under 100,000 s/f, or two full floors, at 2 Park Avenue, according to sources.
The society will fill space to be vacated by The Hartford, an insurance group that occupies about 150,000 s/f at 2 Park Avenue and has decided to relocate when its lease runs out there in September.
The Hartford’s space is being eyed by another tenant. Gilt Groupe, a popular online retailer of discount luxury goods, occupies about 50,000 s/f at 2 Park, the building’s entire fourth floor, on a sublease from the Internet software and search engine company Yahoo. That sublease expires in September as well and Gilt is in talks with 2 Park’s owners, L&L Holding Company, to expand dramatically, to 150,000 s/f or more. In the deal, which is still under negotiation, Gilt would renew its existing floor directly with the landlord and potentially expand into a large portion of The Hartford’s space on floors five, six and seven.
Asking rents in 2 Park Avenue, an Art Deco building on 33rd Street, are in the $40s per s/f.
