JLL completes 57,018 s/f lease for AKF Group at One Liberty Plaza

JLL has completed a new, direct lease for AKF Group LLC at One Liberty Plaza. The engineering firm signed a 15-year lease for 57,018 s/f at the class A, 2.3 million s/f commercial office building owned by Brookfield. The tenant was represented by Paul Mas and Michael Shenot, managing directors; Ruby Hwang, senior vice president; and Roxanne Tehranian, associate, all with JLL. Brookfield was represented in-house by Jeremiah Larkin, senior vice president and director of leasing, and Duncan McCuaig, vice presidents of leasing, along with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank team of David Falk, principal and president of the New York tri-state region; Peter Shimkin, executive managing director; Hal Stein, managing principal; and Nick Berger, managing director. "AKF Group is relocating its entire New York operations from the Times Square district to Lower Manhattan," said Shenot. "Lower Manhattan continues to attract a diverse range of tenants from outside of the traditional financial services sector. We've seen similar commitments this year from media firms, technology groups and across all business service sectors." AKF Group inked the 15-year lease and will occupy the entire 44,378 s/f 22nd floor and a portion of the 23rd floor at One Liberty Plaza, located directly across from the World Trade Center between Liberty and Cortlandt Sts. in Lower Manhattan. The engineering firm is consolidating its presence Downtown from locations at 1501 Broadway and 330 West 42nd Street in Midtown. "AKF Group was established in New York in 1989, and we have always maintained our largest office presence here in the city," said Paul Bello, president of AKF Group. "We chose to reaffirm our commitment to the revitalization of Lower Manhattan by relocating our New York operations to the area. AKF has been heavily involved in the redevelopment of the 16-acre World Trade Center site since 2006." The 54-story One Liberty Plaza was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP and constructed in 1973. The office building was substantially renovated in 2007, with the work including a new lobby, plaza and state-of-the-art elevator systems. JLL is a leader in the New York tri-state commercial real estate market, with more than 1,600 of the most recognized industry experts offering brokerage, capital markets, property/facilities management, consulting, and project and development services. In 2013, the New York tri-state team completed approximately 25.9 million s/f in lease transactions, arranged capital markets transactions valued at $2.1 billion, managed projects valued at nearly $7 billion, and oversaw a property and facilities management portfolio of 95.3 million s/f and an agency leasing portfolio of 67 million s/f.