Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has inked an 101,000 s/f lease at 1 North Lexington Avenue in White Plains, NY. The Japanese multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan committed to a 13-year lease at the Class A office complex.
The CBRE team of William V. Cuddy, Jr. and Jacqueline Novotny represented the building ownership, Gateway One Group, in the lease negotiations as the exclusive leasing agents for the White Plains property. Williams Peters, Derek Trulson, Robert Ageloff and Paul Tortora of Jones Lang LaSalle acted on behalf of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
“The quality institutional ownership and the property’s phenomenal Class A office space, as well as its central location – just a block from the White Plains Metro North Train Station and White Plains Transportation Center – made 1 North Lexington Avenue the ideal location for Sumitomo Mitsui,” said Cuddy.
Sumitomo Mitsui will continue to operate its headquarters from 277 Park Avenue, where it subleases space from Hartford insurance company, according to a CBRE spokesman. The bank also has offices in Houston, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“Sumitomo Mitsui’s commitment to the property is part of an early trend of the increased interest from New York City tenants coming into downtown White Plains looking for more reasonable rental rates. Tenants value the live, work and play environment and appreciate the advantage of the convenient commute to Manhattan,” commented Novotny.
White Plains Mayor Tom Roach said, “We are pleased to welcome Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation to our city. We’ve worked hard to create an environment that’s attractive to employers and residents alike and it’s gratifying to see our efforts bear fruit. The hundreds of jobs that SMBC will bring to the city will add to the vibrancy of our downtown and provide economic benefits to our downtown businesses.”
The closing of the Sumitomo Mitsui transaction also marks Cuddy’s two decades as the exclusive leasing agent for Gateway, 1 North Lexington Avenue. Over the years, he has worked with the ownership to attract such high-profile corporate space users as Alliance Bernstein, GuildNet, Chase Bank, and many others to the buildings roster. The property is now 96 percentleased.
