HIP signs 500,000 SF lease at 55 Water.

The drought of deals does not hold "water" at 55. Two huge real estate transactions at 55 Water St. -- one consisting of 485,000 SF and the other 157,000 SF - represent two of the largest deals negotiated in Downtown Manhattan.

The Health Insurance Plan of. New York (HIP) signed a 20-year 485,000-SF lease for the entire 13-story north building as well as the 13th floor of the south building at 55 Water St. 55 Water St. will become HIP's headquarters and represents a consolidation from two other locations throughout the city, 132 W. 31st St. and 7 W. 34th Street. The deal's aggregate value is estimated at nearly $400 million.

Coincidentally, a few hours earlier on the same day last week, Teachers' Retirement System of New York (TRS) signed a 157,000-SF, 15-year lease for the 2nd, 16th and 17th floors of the south building for an aggregate value approaching $100 million.

The building's owner Retirement Systems of Alabama, was jointly represented by Insignia/ESG and CB Richard Ellis. The team included InsignialESG's Howard Fiddle, Bradley Gerla, Robert Martin, Tom Shirocky, and CB Richard Ellis's Mary Ann Tighe and Ken Rapp. HIP was represented by Brian Given Steve Jaray and Hal Stein of GVA Williams, while Peter Hennessey and Natasha Szarkowski of The Staubach Company acted for TRS.

"One of the factors that drove this deal for HIP was the new amenity package in progress for 55 Water St.," said Fiddle, "namely the food court on the building's main floor and the re-design of the third level outdoor plaza. But more significantly, these deals, with a combined 642,000 SF are a tremendous coup for Lower Manhattan because it means an imminent influx of between 1,500-2,000 employees."

"For TRS, we were able to arrange the installation of a private elevator to the second floor on the south side of the south building, since that floor will be used expressly as a call-in center for teachers," added Gerla. According to Fiddle, 540,000 SF remain to be leased at the 3.8-million-SF property. Insignia/ESG and CBRE have been working on the HIP deal for over a year, following an aggressive marketing campaign to lease up nearly one million SF of space that became available last year when JP Morgan Chase moved out.