Planned Manhattan office tower gets first tenants

[Published May 2011 and updated June 2023] The first tenant for the planned office building on 250 West 55^th Street in New York City has been signed, according to the developer of the site, real estate investment trust (REIT) Boston Properties.

Law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP has leased 180,000 square feet of office space in the building, which is to have a total of approximately 1,000,000 square feet when completed.

Construction of the 39-storey building began in 2007 but was stopped in 2009 after the excavation and foundations were completed. Now construction is to being again in the fall of this year, Boston Properties has announced.

Commenting on the transaction, Mortimer B. Zuckerman, Chairman and CEO of Boston Properties, said: “We are pleased to announce the resumption of development of 250 West 55^th Street, which we believe, upon its completion, will be considered among the elite office buildings in Manhattan.

See examples of Offices for Rent on Flexible Leases in Manhattan

“We are, furthermore, delighted that the prestigious law firm of Morrison & Foerster has selected 250 West 55^th Street for its new state-of-the-art home. Our decision to proceed with construction reflects the City’s improving overall economy and the office market in particular.”

Architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP have designed the building to have floor-to-floor heights of 14 feet and to feature a landscaped ‘green’ roof on the third floor.

Additionally, the building, which is due to be completed in the spring of 2014, will have a LEED Gold rating.

Boston Properties is based in Boston, Massachusetts and is primarily focused on Grade A office space. The REIT acquires and develops such space primarily in the cities of Boston, New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C.

The REIT was founded by Mortimer Zuckerman, who also owns the New York Daily News.

Editor’s notes: The construction of 250 West 55th Street was completed in 2014 and the 660-foot tall tower achieved LEED CS Gold accreditation.

As of June 2023, the property was tenanted by Lion Point Capital, Redwood Capital Management, Long Arc Capital, Randall & Quilter, Aperture Investors, Al Jazeera, and Square Point Capital, to name just a few.

There is also Bevmax Office Centers space at 250 West 55th Street that includes private turnkey office suites on flexible contracts.