Pricewaterhouse leases 800,000 s/f at 300 Mad.

In what seems to be a game of musical chairs, PricewaterhouseCoopers has signed an 800,000 s/f sublease at 300 Madison Ave., while simultaneously signing a deal to sublet 283,000 s/f of space at its 1177 Ave. of the Americas building to Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.

According to Steven Silber, a spokesman for PricewaterhouseCoopers, the transactions are part of the company's longterm plan to consolidate its offices in a building that would be representative of the firm's image.

"Our current spaces, at 1301 and 1177 Ave. of the Americas, represent the headquarters of our predecessor firms," he said. "When we merged into PricewaterhouseCoopers five years ago, we decided that we wanted to rind a building that would bring everyone together. A number of business changes set us back, but we finally found a building that would allow us to consolidate our practice and that matches our design standards and provides optimum work efficiency."

Silber also pointed out that the offices the firm has so far occupied provide about the same amount of space, but are located in non-contiguous pieces of real estate.

"Not all of that space can be used efficiently," he explained. PricewaterhouseCoopers' new lease at 300 Madison Ave. has a 30-year term and the firm's name will be featured on the outside of the building. Employees will start moving in by the summer of 2004. Before then, however, PricewaterhouseCoopers will have to find a tenant for its second location at 1301 Ave. of the Americas and for the remainder of its space at 1177.

At the same time, its new sub-tenant, Kramer Levin, which is also consolidating, will return to the market 180,000 s/f at 919 Third Ave. and 20,000 sf at 909 Third Ave. after it moves into 1177 Ave. of the Americas in the second quarter of 2005.

"They wanted to move for a long time and were just waiting for the right opportunity," said Moshe Sukenik, of Newmark & Company Real Estate, who together with Barry Gosin represented Kramer Levin in the transaction. "They felt that the combination of the quality of the building and the good financial value of the transaction made this the right time." In addition to its current 283,000 s/f lease, the firm made provisions for a possible expansion in the future. It will be occupying floors 21 through 30 of the building, in addition to two below-grade levels.

According to Scott Klan, also of Newmark & Company, who was one of the brokers representing PricewaterhouseCoopers in the transaction, "These two deals definitely signify a change in the market. People's perception was that we were at the bottom and these large deals will change that."

Lou Varsames and Steve Ernst, of CLW Real Estate Services Group, represented PricewaterhouseCoopers in its sublease deal at 300 Madison Ave. Neil Goldmacher, of Newmark & Company, and Mary Ann Tighe, Whitley Collins and Timothy Dempsey, of CB Richard Ellis, also participated in the transaction.

Dennis Friedrich, Jerry Larkin and David Cheikin, of Brookfield Properties, conducted negotiations on behalf of the landlord and CIBC World Markets.

Developed by Brookfield Properties Corporation, 300 Madison Ave. is a brand new, 1.2 million office building in the heart of midtown Manhattan.