Mizuho Americas, the U.S. division of Japanese bank Mizuho Financial Group, has signed a 148,000-square-foot lease at 1271 Avenue of the Americas, according to a release from landlord The Rockefeller Group.
The company, will occupy the entire second and third floors as well as space below grade at the 2.1-million-square-foot, 48-story building between West 50th and West 51st Streets. The bank will be moving employees from multiple locations at 320 Park Avenue, 1440 Broadway and 125 West 50th Street, as Crain’s New York Business previously reported before the deal closed last month. The bank hopes to move into the space in 2020.
CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe, Howard Fiddle, John Maher, Sarah Pontius, Evan Haskell and Dave Caperna brokered the deal for The Rockefeller Group, which is owned by Japan-based Mitsubishi Estate. The CBRE team worked alongside The Rockefeller Group’s leasing team of Ed Guiltinan, Jennifer Stein, Yoshinori Nakamura, Taku Tanikawa, Yoko Yamada and Eden Jeon.
Savills Studley’s Mitchell Steir, Matthew Barlow, Steve Berliner and David Goldstein. represented Mizuho Americas. The brokers declined to comment via a spokeswoman.
“With the continued expansion of our corporate and investment banking franchise in the U.S. and across the region during the last several years, strengthening our business and technology infrastructure to match our growing client footprint has become a critical necessity,” John Buchanan, head of strategy for Mizuho Americas, said in a prepared statement. “Establishing 1271 Avenue of the Americas as our new U.S. headquarters will allow us to better serve clients by bringing together Mizuho employees from multiple office locations in one space.”
The asking rents in the deal was in the low $80s per square foot, as The New York Post reported.
Following the departure of Time Inc. to 225 Liberty Street at Brookfield Place, The Rockefeller Group began a $600 million redevelopment of 1271 Avenue of the Americas with designs by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. They are currently replacing the concrete façade with an all glass curtain wall and restorating the landmarked lobby.
“The ongoing renovations to the building enable Rockefeller Group to provide modern, efficient, and highly-desirable space to tenants in one of the most accessible and amenity-rich locations in Manhattan,” Guiltinan, a senior vice president and the head of leasing in New York for The Rockefeller Group, said in prepared remarks. “We are pleased that Mizuho in making their decision recognized the many benefits of being located in the new 1271 Avenue of the Americas.”
Major League Baseball took more than 400,000 square feet at the building in last year, as CO previously reported. Also The New York Times subleased 160,000 square feet from Time Inc. as well.
“The level of interest and activity we are getting for this modern, state of the art building in the heart of Midtown validates Rockefeller Group’s decision to commit to this dramatic renovation,” Maher said in a statement.
