NEW YORK – March 27, 2007 – The New York Times Company and Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC) announced that the national law firm Goodwin Procter LLP has agreed to lease more than 216,000 square feet on seven floors of the Renzo Piano-designed New York Times Building nearing completion at 620 Eighth Avenue, near Times Square.
Goodwin Procter is one of the country's leading law firms with more than 700 attorneys in offices in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The firm's core areas of practice are corporate, litigation and real estate, with specialized areas of focus that include financial services, private equity, technology, real estate and real estate capital markets, intellectual property and products liability. With 150 attorneys in its New York office, at 599 Lexington Avenue, Goodwin Procter anticipates doubling its workforce within the next eight years.
Goodwin Procter signed a 15-year lease to occupy floors 23 through 27 as well as floors 29 and 30 in the 52-story building, which will serve as the corporate headquarters for The New York Times Company and house the New York offices of other major corporations and law firms. The space includes 154,584 square feet owned by the New York Times Company on floors 23 through 27 and 62,342 square feet owned by FCRC on the 29th and 30th floors.
"Our goal with The New York Times Building was to create a world-class working environment, make a positive contribution to the New York City skyline and attract top-notch companies to a new area of midtown," said Michael Golden, vice chairman, The New York Times Company. "We are delighted to welcome Goodwin Procter to The New York Times Building."
Bruce Ratner, president and CEO of FCRC, said, "I am very proud that The New York Times Building continues to attract national and international companies that seek to strengthen their presence in New York City. Renzo Piano's building will become a landmark on the city skyline and is an ideal location for growing firms that want to expand in Midtown Manhattan."
"Goodwin Procter is committed to thriving and growing in New York," said Alexander Randall, a partner and head of Goodwin Procter's Real Estate Committee. "Over the past few years, we have added incredible talent and with that growth comes the need for more physical space. We were very pleased when this opportunity presented itself. It's a terrific building with superb amenities that will provide a wonderful work environment for our employees and enhance the continued development of our practice."
The 1.6-million-gross-square-foot New York Times Building is owned jointly, as condominiums, by The New York Times Company and FCRC. The Times Company owns floors 2 through 27 and FCRC owns floors 29 through 50 and floor 52, as well as 21,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Floors 28 and 51 are jointly owned by The Times Company and FCRC.
With the Goodwin Procter lease-signing, 85 percent of the FCRC portion and 100 percent of The New York Times Company portion of the building that was available has been leased. Additional tenants include the law firms of Seyfarth Shaw, Covington & Burling and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, and the global asset management firm of Legg Mason. Floors 34, 35 and 44 remain available through FCRC. Goodwin Procter plans to occupy its space late in the first quarter of 2008.
FCRC was represented by a team led by Mary Ann Tighe, including Howard Fiddle, Tim Dempsey, Pete Turchin, Matt Preotle and Jason Pollen of CB Richard Ellis. Gregory Tosko of CB Richard Ellis represented The New York Times Company along with Zachary Freeman, Ramneek Rikhy, Simon Wasserberger and Sacha Zarba. Representing Goodwin Procter was a Studley team led by Howard Nottingham with Mitchell S. Steir, John Mambrino and Matthew Barlow.
Opening this fall, The New York Times Building was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano in association with FXFOWLE Architects. Located at 620 Eighth Avenue between West 40th and 41st Streets, the 52-story building features a dramatic double-skin curtain wall of clear glass covered with a screen of ceramic rods.
The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2006 revenues of $3.3 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers, nine network-affiliated television stations, two New York City radio stations and 35 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.
Forest City Ratner Companies owns and operates 35 properties in the New York metropolitan area—including 4.4 million square feet of office space. FCRC is an affiliate of Forest City Enterprises, Inc., a $7.8 billion NYSE-listed (ticker: FCE-A & FCE-B) national real estate company. Forest City Enterprises is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate throughout the United States.