TPG Architecture, the largest interior architecture firm based in New York, has just signed a lease for 40,000 s/f on two floors at 31 Penn Plaza, a Savanna property.
The brokers were Mark Ravesloot and Michael Monahan from CBRE. Mitchell Konsker, Matt Astrachan and Matt Polhemus of JLL represented the landlord.
Jim Phillips, founder of TPG, commented, “We looked at many buildings in several neighborhoods and thought that this space was the most work-able, the most efficient, and the most convenient.”
TPG creates millions of square feet of offices every year for law firms, media agencies, private equity firms and other corporate clients.
The chance to start with a clean slate of 27,000 s/f on the 5th floor and 13,000 s/f on the 4th floor, connecting via an open stair, presents another exciting opportunity for TPG to showcase its expertise in forward-thinking office design.
“When we were first visiting the building, we could stand in the middle of the floor and see through the block, with 7 ft. high windows looking out along a straight axis from 31st Street to 30th Street; this gave us a sense of largesse and possibility,” said managing design director Larry Berger.
“Our new office will be smart, modern, well thought-out and it will express the values and mission of the firm,” explained Phillips.
31 Penn Plaza, also known as 132 West 31st Street, is an 18-story, classic pre-war office building that was constructed in the 1920’s.
Phillips noted there were several reasons to be in the new location: convenient transportation, the advent of large-scale development along Sixth Avenue, and development plans for Hudson Yards to the west.
“We went to Midtown South 10 years ago and we flourished there,” Phillips said. “This deal was about finding the next hotspot.”
