UFT shows faith moving offices to downtown.

The United Federation of Teachers has finalized an agreement in principle to relocate its headquarters from Park Avenue South to two adjoining buildings on lower Broadway near Wall Street, a few blocks from Ground Zero.

The agreement, involving the purchase of 50 Broadway and long-term net lease of 52 Broadway, will provide the union and its affiliates with a total of 740,000 SF of space for offices, classrooms and meeting facilities. The new headquarters will have room for the union to grow, and in the meantime make space available to other tenants who want to help reinvest in downtown.

No union dues are involved in the deal, which will be funded by the sale of the union's current buildings at 260 Park Avenue South, 48 East 21st St. and 49 East 21st St. While final prices are still subject to negotiations, total value of the purchase and first year lease is expected to be between $65 and $75 million.

The current owner of 50 Broadway is an entity controlled by Koll Bren and Schreiber LLP, a real estate investment trust; 52 Broadway is owned by Jack Resnick & Sons, Inc.; the UFT's real estate consultant and broker in all the transactions, including the disposition of its Midtown South properties, is Colliers ABR.

Jack Resnick and Sons' chairman Burton Resnick said his company "was delighted to do its part in helping the revitalization process move forward in lower Manhattan," and he expressed the hope that the UFT move "signals the start of a resurgence in the downtown marketplace."

Colliers ABR vice chairman Mark Boisi called the relocation move "a landmark business decision that clearly establishes the UFT as a leader in the downtown recovery. We are proud to have played a role in helping to structure these complex real estate transactions."

"This deal sets the tone for the regentrification of the Downtown district," stated Leonard Boxer of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, the UFT's legal counsel.

Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, which represents approximately 140,000 active and retired teachers, guidance counselors, school librarians, secretaries, paraprofessionals and other educators in the New York City public schools, said, "The UFT is proud to be an integral part of the rebirth of lower Manhattan. It is the world's financial capital, the traditional heart of New York, and since Sept. 11 the emotional soul of our country. New York City's public school educators want to demonstrate our confidence in and our commitment to lower Manhattan's future."

Weingarten added, "When the UFT moved into its current headquarters more than 30 years ago it was a much smaller organization with a more limited mission. Now we have an urgent need for the kind of modernized space equipped with up-to-date technology that these buildings can provide."

The building to be purchased, 50 Broadway, near Exchange Place, is a 37-story building built in 1927 and renovated in the 1990s, with 340,000 SF of space. The adjoining building. 52 Broadway, is a 19-story building built in 1982 with 400,000 SF of space.

The new headquarters, expected to be phased in beginning in early 2003, will enable the union to provide new space for classrooms for the more than 7,500 members who annually take its classes to become certified or to upgrade their skills; it will also increase the organization's capacity to provide member services such as certification and retirement counseling.

In addition, the deal includes the construction in 52 Broadway by the current owners of a 1,000-seat auditorium. The UFT, which now must rent space in the schools or from private landlords for any meeting involving more than several hundred people, will for the first time be able to hold major membership meeting on its own site. The auditorium and associated conference center will also be available for use by community and other labor groups.

The UFT has occupied its current building on Park Avenue South since the late 1960s. It also continues to rent office space in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island to provide primary service to members in these areas.

Weingarten said, "Putting together a deal of this magnitude has involved an enormous investment of time and energy by the UFT officers and staff, and by other who provided resources and expertise, including Amalgamated Bank, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan and Colliers ABR. I want to thank all of them for their contributions."

The UFT is in discussion with a number of interested parties for the sale of its current headquarters and rental of available space, but no final deal has yet been reached.