Rudin Inks Long-Term Lease at Manhattan Office Tower

The 560,000-square-foot 41 Madison Ave. tower was recently renovated. Image courtesy of Rudin

Rudin has signed a 13,394-square-foot long-term lease with Kensington Vanguard National Land Services at 41 Madison Ave., a 560,000-square-foot Class A office tower in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park submarket. The tenant, a subsidiary of Truist Bank, will relocate its New York City headquarters to the building’s entire 21st floor for the next 10 years, with move-in scheduled for the second quarter of 2024. JLL negotiated for the tenant, while Rudin handled the deal in-house.

Designed by Emery Roth & Sons, the building opened in 1974. Kensington Vanguard will join other tenants at the property, such as The Henry Luce Foundation, Regus, Water Island Capital, Cowan DeBaets and Abrahams & Sheppard, among others, CommercialEdge data shows.

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The landlord recently completed a renovation program at the 42-story office tower, that included multiple upgrades to the lobby, lounge and entrance, redesigned elevator cabs, a new reception space, as well as a new event and conference space designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. 41 Madison is WiredScore Platinum-certified and utilizes Nantum OS, an advanced building operating system.

The tower is 5 miles from Jersey City, N.J. and within 15 miles of John F. Kennedy International Airport. JLL’s team of Vice Chairman Howard Hirsch and Managing Director Brett Harvey negotiated on behalf of the tenant, while the landlord was represented in-house to Senior Vice President Robert Steinman.

Recent large deals in Manhattan

As of September, the Manhattan market had the nation’s highest average asking rent, reaching $70.05 per square foot, a recent CommercialEdge report shows. Brooklyn was second, with $45.46 per square foot, while Boston came in third with $44.88 per square foot.

Recent large leases in Manhattan included Weill Cornell Medicine’s 100,000-square-foot expansion at 575 Lexington Ave., bringing its footprint to 300,000 square feet. The deal marks one of the biggest leasing agreements in New York City so far in 2023.

Law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell’s signed another significant long-term lease extension and expansion at 450 Lexington Ave. The tenant will occupy more than 700,000 square feet for the next 25 years at RXR Realty’s office tower.