Healthfirst Signs 172,600-SF HQ Lease at SL Green’s Church Street Building in Manhattan

July 27, 2010

Under a 20-year lease agreement, Healthfirst will maintain its headquarters on four floors at the 21-story building at 100 Church Street, downtown. The property has been in SL Green's portfolio since January of this year when the REIT became sole owner on the heels of a foreclosure of the senior mezzanine loan on the building.

July 27, 2010
By Barbra Murray, Contributing Writer

Leasing in Manhattan’s office market continues to pick up, and Healthfirst is one of the latest to sign a deal for a substantial amount of space. The nonprofit managed care organization has just committed to approximately 172,600 square feet at 100 Church Street, a 1-million-square-foot tower owned by Manhattan’s largest office landlord, SL Green Realty Corp.

Under a 20-year lease agreement, Healthfirst will maintain its headquarters on four floors at the 21-story building at 100 Church Street, downtown. The property has been in SL Green’s portfolio since January of this year when the REIT became sole owner on the heels of a foreclosure of the senior mezzanine loan on the building.

Real estate services firm Newmark Knight Frank represented SL Green in the lease transaction–which will close pending customary review and the green light from the property’s lender–while Jones Lang LaSalle stood in for Healthfirst. Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, however, available office space at 100 Church Street is presently being marketed at $36 per-square-foot.

There have been some dramatic changes in leasing activity in Manhattan over the last couple of months. The second quarter marked the strongest quarter for new lease deals since the third quarter of 2006, according to a report by real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. Additionally, the vacancy rate dropped from 11.6 percent in the first quarter to 10.8 percent in the second quarter, marking the market’s first decline in the vacancy rate in three years. The list of major office deals in the second quarter includes Tiffany’s signing of a 15-year lease agreement for its relocation to 260,000 square feet at 200 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, and law firm Proskauer’s commitment in May to 400,000 square feet at 11 Times Square in Midtown, the largest office lease in the submarket this year.

The smell of recovery is growing stronger.