Following its recently completed merger with Wells Fargo & Co., Wachovia Securities L.L.C. will consolidate its White Plains operations at 1133 Westchester Ave., the approximately 620,000-square-foot office building owned by RPW Group Inc.
Officials at Cushman & Wakefield of Connecticut Inc. said Wachovia signed a lease of 10-plus years for 25,982 square feet on the third floor of the three-story former IBM Corp. building. The company will move in May from its downtown offices at 10 Bank St. and 360 Hamilton Ave.
Brokers in the deal said Wachovia considered several locations in Westchester County and ultimately selected 1133 Westchester Ave. because of the building”™s recent renovations, its large and efficient floor plates, on-site and area amenities and proximity to area highways and the Metro-North Railroad.
Developer Robert P. Weisz, president of the 30-year-old RPW Group, in 2006 paid $76 million for the building and 74-acre office campus beside I-287. He has since invested about $20 million in improvements, adding the largest glass atrium lobby in the region and a range of amenities that include an executive dining room, bank branch, hair salon, child day care center and fitness center. Weisz last fall announced plans to break ground this year on a 280,000-square-foot, four-story, $75 million office building on the property.
Glenn Walsh and Larry Ruggieri, senior director and director, respectively, at Cushman & Wakefield, represented the owner in transaction negotiations. Pamela Walsh, principal at Byrnam Wood L.L.C. in New York, represented Wachovia Securities.
Pamela Walsh said Wachovia”™s pending new location is “one of the finest office properties in Westchester County and the firm is very excited about the move. RPW Group went out of its way to conclude the transaction in a timely manner.”
Tenants at 1133 Westchester include ITT Corp. IBM Corp., Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., EMC Corp., RPW Group and the Westchester County Association.
Cushman & Wakefield”™s Walsh said 150,000 square feet of office space is currently available for lease there. Despite the recession, brokers marketing the building are in talks with “a number of tenants from varying industries,” he said.
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At 333 Westchester Ave. in White Plains, MacSteel International USA Corp., one of the steel industry”™s leading service providers, has signed a long-term renewal for approximately 10,000 square feet of office space in the former General Foods headquarters complex.
MacSteel International was represented in the leasing transaction by Craig Ruoff and Rick Rakow of Rakow Commercial Realty Group Inc. in White Plains. The owner of the 39-acre property, Manhattan-based Cohen Brothers Realty Corp., was represented by Fran Delgorio, its senior vice president of leasing and marketing.
The lease renewal follows the relocation last fall of the headquarters of Amalgamated Life Insurance, a division of Alico Services Corp., from Manhattan to a 132,000-square-foot space at 333 Westchester. Â Endurance Reinsurance Corp./Endurance U.S. Holdings last fall expanded to more than 44,000 square feet in the four-building corporate park.
About 150,000 square feet of space is currently available for direct lease there.
