Westchester”™s largest law firm will be jumping across Interstate-287 after signing a 15-year, 125,000-square-foot lease at 1133 Westchester Ave. in White Plains in one of the county”™s largest deals of 2011.
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman and Dicker L.L.P. announced the relocation along with RPW Group Inc., which owns the 600,000-square-foot, 74-acre property on the Platinum Mile office-park corridor.
The firm will move into office space occupied by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. since 2005. Starwood is relocating its headquarters from 1111 Westchester Ave. and its adjacent White Plains operations to Harbor Square in Stamford, Conn., drawn in part by some $90 million in state incentives.
Wilson Elser”™s lease begins in December 2013. It plans to move from 3 Gannett Drive in Harrison as early as the summer of 2013.
Wilson Elser employs more than 800 attorneys nationwide and more than 300 attorneys and staff in Westchester. The firm opened its White Plains office in 1990 and currently leases more than 130,000 square feet of space in the Gannett Office Park.
“This is a very exciting time for us,” said Robert F. Roarke, Wilson Elser regional managing partner for the New York metro area and the firm”™s managing partner. He called the firm”™s future home “a premier building set in an attractive and professional environment.”
Howard E. Greenberg, president of Howard Properties Ltd. in White Plains and a broker for Wilson Elser in the deal, said the agreement is a groundbreaking development for the county”™s commercial real estate industry.
“Without a doubt, this is the most notable lease in Westchester County this year. It”™s certainly a long-term recommitment by Wilson Elser to the county,” Greenberg said. “Starwood is vacating 325,000 feet in a market that sees very few deals over 50,000 square feet and almost no deals over 100,000 square feet, especially in these recession years. To take 130,000 square feet off the market before Starwood has even vacated it is a pretty significant real estate transaction.”
Robert P. Weisz, CEO of RPW Group called the deal “a testament to the quality of 1133 Westchester Ave. to have Westchester County”™s largest law firm choose it to be its home for the next 15 years.”
Weisz last month told Westchester County IDA officials he will use a $14-million building loan for improvements at 1133 Westchester to accommodate new tenants. Wilson Elser was represented in the transaction by Greenberg and The John Buck Co., a Chicago-based corporate real estate adviser. RPW Group was represented by Glenn Walsh of Cushman and Wakefield.
