Bowne leases 200,000 s/f at 55 Water St.

In a deal which absorbs a significant portion of the remaining available space at mammoth 55 Water Street, Bowne & Co. Inc., the world's largest financial printer, has leased 203,669 s/f at the 3.8 million-square foot property owned by the Retirement Systems of Alabama.

In January 2006, Bowne will move from its current location at 345 Hudson, to occupy floors 10, 11, and 50 in the 54-story two-building complex, in addition to a portion of below grade space.

Jeffrey Heller, a Cushman & Wakefield executive director, represented Bowne & Co. Inc. in its site search and lease negotiations.

The CB Richard Ellis team of Mary Ann Tighe, Howard Fiddle, Tom Shirocky, Bradley Gerla and Kenneth Rapp represented the landlord in the 20-year deal.

"55 Water Street is one of the few downtown buildings totally equipped to serve as the headquarters for a global leader in printing and electronic delivery of communications," said Mr. Fiddle, who added that Bowne operates around-the-clock and needed an infrastructure conducive to a 24/7 environment.

"Bowne capitalized on a market opportunity to lease highly-efficient office space in one of downtown's premier buildings," said Mr. Heller. "At the same time, the company reaffirmed its commitment to New York City."

"Score another major point for downtown," said Ms. Tighe. "We've negotiated leases on behalf of non-traditional downtown tenants totaling nearly 800,000 s/f at 55 Water Street in the past 24 months. Only 370,000 s/f remain available at the City's largest office property. That's a sign that the downtown market is stronger than ever, and we don't see that incredible leasing velocity slowing down any time soon."

Phil Kucera, chief executive officer of Bowne, said, "Since Bowne was founded on Pearl Street 230 years ago, we are proud of our long history and our strong ties to the downtown community and financial district. We're happy to have this opportunity to contribute to the revitalization of Lower Manhattan."

Bowne president and chief operating officer, David J. Shea, added, "We look forward to moving into our new state-of-the-art offices, which will be equipped with the latest technologies and amenities for our clients. Furthermore, we believe our clients will be pleased to know that our new downtown location will be much more accessible to them."

Built in 1973, 55 Water Street is home to a wide variety of prestigious tenants including Standard & Poor's, HIP, Chubb Insurance, Teachers Retirement Systems of the City of New York, and Waterhouse Securities.

Founded in 1775, Bowne & Co., Inc. is a global leader in providing financial printing, digital printing, and electronic delivery of personalized communications, and a broad range of globalization/localization services.