Thor, Taconic Sign Samsung to Long-Term Lease in NYC’s Meatpacking District

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Samsung Electronics North America has signed a long-term lease for all of the nearly completed 837 Washington St. in New York City’s Meatpacking District, it was announced Tuesday by Samsung and by developers Taconic Investment Partners and Thor Equities.

The 55,000-square-foot building will be Samsung’s “flagship Manhattan office” and will serve as the home office for the company’s Brand Marketing Team, while the Enterprise Customer Briefing Center will showcase Samsung’s full range of enterprise mobile solutions and focus on serving New York commercial and institutional customers.

“We acquired, zoned, and developed this asset with the intent to attract one of the more exciting international brands,” Taconic co-CEO Paul Pariser said in a release.

The office “will help guarantee that our business is closer to some of our important customers, an innovation-minded workforce, and other key stakeholders for our businesses,” Gregory Lee, president & CEO of Samsung Electronics North America, said in a release.

Samsung was represented by Craig Reicher, James Ackerson, David Liggitt and Patrick O’Keefe of CBRE. The owner-developers were represented by Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s David Falk, Daniel Levine and Jason Greenstein.

The design by Morris Adjmi Architects features a fully restored two-story Art Modern landmark brick façade that anchors a 6-story twisting steel and glass exoskeleton wrapped by a floor-to-ceiling window wall.

The project, which was engineered to achieve LEED Gold certification, also features a cellar and 7,000 square feet of outdoor space on the second floor, third floor and rooftop that will provide “unique entertainment options,” according to the developers.

The site, between Little West 12th and West 13th streets, is across the street from the High Line Park and near the imminent new home of the Whitney Museum.

Financials on the building and the lease were not disclosed, but in November 2011, when the project had recently been approved by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, the New York Post reported that Taconic expected to spend at least $400 per square foot on the building. (That figures out to a rough minimum of $22 million.) The Post also stated that Pariser was anticipating a rental rate “approaching $600” for the 8,000-square-foot ground floor.