Muss signs two tenants at Forest Hill Tower

Muss Development LLC has signed two new tenants at Forest Hills Tower, the developer's 375,000 s/f, class A office tower in Forest Hills. Signature Bank and Tectonics both signed long-term leases for office space at the 17-story building located at 118-35 Queens Blvd. Relocating from Long Island City, Tectonic has leased 9,948 s/f on the tenth floor. Signature Bank signed a 7,834 s/f lease on the fourth floor for its executive offices and administrative staff. Tectonic and Signature Bank are both scheduled to move into their new spaces this summer. The new tenants also mark a shift in the leasing program at the 17-story tower located at 118-35 Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills. The Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) signed a 200,000 s/f lease in 2012 to serve as its regional headquarters in response to Superstorm Sandy. But now that FEMA — which will retain a presence at Forest Hills Tower — has begun to give back some of its space in the building, Muss is negotiating with several new tenants. "The market's response to our floor-by-floor leasing campaign has been tremendous," said Jason Muss, principal of Muss Development. "FEMA continues to be an excellent tenant, but as it reduces its real estate needs we have the opportunity to offer some of Forest Hills' prime office space to a diversity of tenants. They continue to show strong demand for single and partial-floor leases." The Forest Hills Tower leasing team of Ken Siegel, Bill Korchak, and Kyle Crennan, of Jones Lang LaSalle, represented Muss in both new transactions. Gus Nuzzolese and Howard Kaplowitz, of Colliers International, represented Signature Bank. There was no outside broker for the Tectonic lease. In addition to the E and F subway lines and an express bus at the building's doorstep, Forest Hills Tower stands just 17 minutes from midtown Manhattan, 20 minutes from downtown Brooklyn, 11 minutes from JFK International Airport, and 11 minutes from LaGuardia Airport.