New York, NY Related Cos. and LargaVista Cos. have broken ground on 300 Lafayette St., a new, 80,000 s/f, mixed-use boutique office and retail building that offers 50,000 s/f of office space on the top floors and 30,000 s/f of flagship retail space. The fully capitalized, seven-story development features floor-to-ceiling glazing set in terra-cotta and limestone frames, and is the first new, class A office building in the SoHo district in 100 years.

“We have had tremendous success developing market-leading office space throughout Manhattan, most recently at Hudson Yards,” said Jeff Blau, CEO of Related Companies. “It has been more than a century since anyone has undertaken the development of a new ground-up office building in SoHo. The neighborhood is ripe for a new generation of office and retail space that puts green space and sustainability at the forefront of the design, and we have already received a great amount of interest from commercial tenants.”

“Owing to its location at the primary gateway to SoHo, in addition to its beautiful design, 300 Lafayette St. will be a stunning addition to the neighborhood,” said Marcello Porcelli, CEO of LargaVista.

Related and LargaVista have commenced demolition work on the site, which boasts 300 ft. of frontage on Crosby Street, Lafayette Street and East Houston Street. Construction will be complete in early 2018.

 JLL was selected by Related and LargaVista to serve as exclusive leasing agent for both the office and retail space at 300 Lafayette St.

The team leasing the office space will be led by Peter Riguardi, chairman of the New York region, and Clark Finney, senior vice president, and includes David Kleiner and Steven Rotter, managing directors, and Benjamin Bass, vice president. Patrick Smith, vice chairman of retail brokerage in New York, will oversee the team handling JLL’s retail leasing efforts. Both groups will work closely with Avi Kollenscher, senior vice president, of Related and Adam Good, COO, of LargaVista.

“There is no other office building in Manhattan that was designed from the outset to promote a healthy lifestyle and a strong connection to the outdoors,” said Riguardi. “Not only will 300 Lafayette Street offer the highest-quality office space, the glass-enclosed building boasts expansive views of SoHo and easy access to the wealth of restaurants, retail, transportation and cultural events the neighborhood is famous for.”

The building includes 10,200 s/f of retail lower level space, 8,900 s/f of retail space on the ground floor and 9,800 s/f of retail space on the second floor, with the third floor through the seventh floor offering a total of nearly 50,000 s/f of trophy office space. The boutique office portion of the building will include a separate lobby from the flagship retail space. The building owners plan to meet U.S. Green Building Council standards for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver Certification for 300 Lafayette Street.

The building was designed by Rick Cook, partner, with COOKFOX Architects, who envisioned one of the most unique new office buildings New York has witnessed in many years. Cook created an office environment that features at least 2,300 s/f of usable outdoor space on each office floor. The terraces will be landscaped with native species and are a critical component of the overall design. In total, the building offers 12,025 s/f of usable outdoor space, equal to approximately 25% of the building’s office area. Office suites include indoor/outdoor fireplaces and incorporate technology from Nana Wall Systems Inc. that allows the glass walls between the office and outdoor space to fold open.

“We designed a building that would connect people with nature in a tangible way to create the healthiest, high-performance workplace in SoHo,” said Cook. “The office spaces have been designed to allow as much daylight as possible and direct access to green terraces with native plantings on every floor.”

JLL is a leader in the New York tri-state commercial real estate market, with more than 2,300 of the most recognized industry experts offering brokerage, capital markets, property/facilities management, consulting, and project and development services. In 2015, the New York tri-state team completed approximately 32.6 million s/f of lease transactions; arranged investment sales, notes, debt and equity transactions valued at more than $8.2 billion; managed projects valued at $7.8 billion; and oversaw a property management, facilities management and agency leasing portfolio exceeding 141 million s/f.