By Roland Li
The Bjarke Ingel Group (BIG), which made a recent splash with its striking, pyramidal design for the Durst Organization, has made a commitment to New York. The firm signed a lease for seven years at the Starrett-Lehigh Building at 601 West 26th Street, opening its New York office in the space in January. They will occupy slightly less than 3,500 s/f, said Shirley McEvoy of Prime Manhattan Realty, who represented BIG.
BIG currently has 15 staff members in the New York office, and it is working on multiple projects in North America that will be made public throughout the year, according to Kai-Uwe Bergmann, director of business development at the firm. Bjarke Ingels, the firm’s founder, has relocated permanently to New York to oversee the land use approvals of the West 57th Street Durst project.
Asking rents weren’t disclosed.
“I think they picked the building because it’s quite a unique building,” said McEvoy, BIG’s broker. “They have a wonderful view of the river.”
Peter Thorsen represented landlord 601 West Associates in-house.
Other tenants in the enormous, 1.8 million s/f building include Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Johnson and Johnson and Hugo Boss. McEvoy said the technology and media companies were reflective of the commercial evolution of Chelsea.
