Vodafone leases 34,408 s/f at Rudin Management's 560 Lexington Avenue

As its ambitious office lobby and public plaza renovation project nears completion, the Rudin Family has revealed a long-term lease signing at 560 Lexington Ave. Vodafone, one of the world's largest telecommunications companies, has inked a direct lease for 34,408 s/f at the 22-story, 400,000 s/f office building, which is located at the northwest corner of Lexington Ave. and 50th St. Currently subleasing the entire 9th floor of the building, Vodafone is doubling its space and will now be leasing the entire 8th and 9th floors of the property on a direct basis. Upon closing the transaction, Bill Rudin, Co-Vice Chairman and CEO of Rudin Management Company, the operating arm of Rudin Family holdings, commented: "We are delighted that Vodafone will be expanding its presence at 560 Lexington Avenue as we continue our commitment to enhance and beautify this important office property." Vodafone Global Enterprise President of the Americas region, Chuck Pol, said: "We are actively expanding our presence throughout the Americas to better serve our multinational customers. The New York City office is a convenient location where we engage with and enable our business customers to explore Vodafone's total communications solutions." Thomas Keating, senior vice president of commercial leasing and Kevin Daly, vice president at Rudin Management Co., represented the building's ownership in-house, while William Fressle of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant. Last year, the Rudins commissioned world-renowned architectural firm Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM) to modernize 560 Lexington's pedestrian space, lobby, elevators, retail storefronts and subway entrance. The just completed lobby features vibrant, silver-white, Spanish granite flooring and St. Hubert limestone from Portugal that replaced the interior brick facades, as well as an elegant glass entrance that was designed to better integrate the lobby with the existing covered pedestrian space. The public plaza, with direct access to the 6 subway line, is expected to be fully completed by spring 2015. The building is currently leased by a diverse roster of tenants, including Bayern LB, Verizon Business Services, Merrill Lynch, Mitsui Sumitomo Marine Management, and Susman Godfrey LLP. Retail tenants include Godiva Chocolatier and Starbucks. Approximately 55,000 square feet of office space - including the top two floors - will be available in 2015 for long-term lease at the building. Rudin Management Company, which serves as leasing and managing agent for 560 Lexington Avenue, is a full service real estate organization managing the interests of the Rudin Family, which owns and manages one of the largest private property portfolios in New York City. Among its real estate holdings are 16 office buildings containing approximately 10 million square feet of commercial space and 20 apartment buildings comprising over four million square feet of residences. The Rudin Family, with partner Global Holdings, Inc., is also currently developing The Greenwich Lane, a 199-unit luxury condominium in the heart of Manhattan's West Village.