CBRE renews 900,027 s/f lease for McGraw Hill

New York, NY New Water Street Corp. has reached an agreement with McGraw Hill Financial in a 900,027 s/f renewal of its lease at 55 Water St. McGraw Hill Financial inked a multi-year renewal for the entire 34th through 46th floors—along with a portion of the concourse and 52nd floor. The company is the largest tenant in the building.  “This lease renewal is the culmination of our efforts to upgrade 55 Water Street via a significant capital improvement plan,” said Bruce Hodges Jr., director of leasing and tenant relations at New Water Street Corp. New Water Street Corp. is in the process of upgrading the building lobby; has completed upgrades to the building café; and invested more than $100 million in the building following Superstorm Sandy to ensure that the operation of all major building systems are not interrupted by a future event.  These investments include, but are not limited to, installing a flood-barrier system surrounding the entire building; relocating various critical systems above grade; and enclosing other systems in submarine-like waterproof enclosures. “This agreement is just another example of how Lower Manhattan’s continued resurgence has made it a highly attractive place for many of New York City’s greatest companies, and how well-positioned buildings like 55 Water Street have benefited from this resurgence,” said Howard Fiddle, vice chairman of CBRE Group, Inc.  Fiddle along with CBRE’s Dave Caperna, Brad Gerla, Evan Haskell and Mary Ann Tighe represented the landlord. “We look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship with a company of McGraw Hill Financial’s tremendous reputation and prestige,” said George Acero, Executive Vice President and COO at New Water Street Corp. “McGraw-Hill Financial is excited to renew our lease for 55 Water Street,” sayid Mitra Meshgin-Poosh, senior vice president of Global Real Estate Services at McGraw Hill Financial. “We will use this opportunity to upgrade our floors into cohesive, state-of-the-art work environments that encourage collaboration and include upgraded Wi-Fi, telecommunications and electrical systems. We will also continue to renovate and upgrade our conference rooms to enable video conferencing. In this new configuration, we are placing like teams together and making the best use of available space while eliminating existing vacant real estate.” CBRE’s and Ramneek Rikhy, represented McGraw Hill Financial in the transaction. The 687-ft. tall skyscraper is one of the largest office buildings in Manhattan with nearly 4 million rentable s/f and has two public parks/plazas, a 600-car indoor parking garage as well as an on-site tenant-only cafeteria. 55 Water St. contains advanced infrastructure including emergency power, extended HVAC hours and above-standard power. The building is undergoing a lobby renovation that will enhance both the aesthetics and flow within the lobby to improve the overall experience for tenants and visitors. Other tenants at 55 Water St. include Hugo Boss, Emblem Health and Liberty Mutual. The building is owned by New Water Street Corp., which is a wholly owned entity of The Retirement Systems of Alabama, one of the larger public pension funds in the United States.