NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Waterman Interests, LLC, a privately held commercial real estate investment and operating company, announced it has completed the redevelopment and re-tenanting of 400 Park Avenue. A multifaceted campaign, which included upgrades to the infrastructure, façade and storefronts, led to robust leasing to a world-class roster of foreign and domestic banks and private equity firms and boosted occupancy at the trophy Park Avenue property to 98 percent.
The major, blue-chip tenants that committed to 400 Park Avenue include Creative World Management, Matrix Advisors, City National Bank, TP Capital, Fieldpoint Private Bank, Dai Ichi Life, The Wicks Group, Athena Art Finance, Philadelphia Financial, Dome Equities, Maybank and W Capital, among others.
Located at 54th Street in the center of Midtown Manhattan’s Plaza District office market, Waterman Interests, LLC acquired the leasehold on the building in August of 2010. At the time, the property had 50 percent office vacancy, and the lower six floors were occupied by SYMS department store, which later filed bankruptcy and its assets were liquidated. Waterman Interests worked collaboratively with the fee owner of the land to restructure and extend the leasehold in 2013. A major redevelopment of the property was then executed, creating tremendous leasing velocity that culminated in the complete re-tenanting of the building and leading to its current high occupancy.
“Over the past five years, our team has worked tirelessly on this complex and multi-faceted project with the belief we would be able to return 400 Park Avenue to a Class A trophy office building with an extraordinary tenant base,” said Philip Waterman III (“Tod”), Founder and Managing Member of Waterman Interests, LLC. “Achieving full occupancy and completing a total redevelopment of the building would not have been possible without the dedication to excellence that our people and our partners have brought to this project since the very beginning. This has all occurred well in advance of our projections when we acquired the asset.”
Following its acquisition of the leasehold interest on the 22-story property in 2010, Waterman Interests executed multiple capital improvement projects totaling more than $16 million, which included the installation of a technologically advanced HVAC plant, new elevator mechanical systems and cab interiors, new windows, redundant fiber optic facilities, tenant security systems and the conversion of the former SYMS retail department store to 75,000 square feet of top quality office space. On the exterior, the most visible transformation is at ground level, which consisted of replacing the SYMS department store with a dramatic new two-story cantilevered branch for City National Bank and a new glass retail curtain wall designed by Moed de Armas and Shannon architects. The building was also recently awarded Platinum status by Wired Score.
“Since our acquisition, the property has been in a constant state of redevelopment, with lease expirations providing a great opportunity to modernize most of the original base building infrastructure,” said Michael Keaveney, Vice President and Director of Operations of Waterman Interests. “Thanks to a great team of Design Consultants, General Contractors, and Building Staff we performed this work with tenants in occupancy, on budget and ahead of schedule. I am very proud of our team and thank our tenants for their patience and shared vision in the new 400 Park Avenue.”
“We are extremely grateful to those members of the brokerage community who energetically supported this project over the past year,” added Alan Bernstein, Vice President of Waterman Interests. “We are excited for 2016, as we will have two boutique full floors in the tower of the building coming available. These will be the last office leasing availabilities on this distinguished corner for a very long time, and one or two exceptional tenants will have the opportunity to benefit from the outstanding tenant experience 400 Park Avenue now delivers to the market.”
About Waterman Interests, LLC
Waterman Interests, LLC is a privately-held and self-managed real estate investment and operating company specializing in the acquisition, leasing, financing, management and development of office, retail, and mixed-use properties. The Company’s investment strategy is focused on the New York City market, but also includes other cities that its principals have extensive experience operating in. These include San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago.