For the first time in 40 years, Rockefeller Group Development is thinking about bringing in a brokerage to market the McGraw-Hill Building at 1221 Sixth Avenue, Crain’s reported. In-house sales members have handled the 52-story tower since it was built in 1969, but lack of demand and high vacancies along Sixth Avenue has Rockefeller reconsidering its strategy.
“As we continue our discussions with prospective tenants, if we determine engaging an outside agent would be beneficial, we’ll give it serious consideration,” the developer said in a statement.
Later this year, 500,000 square feet will hit the market at 1221 Sixth Avenue after French financial firm Société Générale vacates the space and heads for 245 Park Avenue. That move combined with the possibility that Morgan Stanley could leave when its lease expires may force Rockefeller’s hand.
“There is an abundance of Space On Sixth Avenue, and it’s really because the financial firms and corporate America are being still being very cautious,” Mitchell Arkin, a Cushman & Wakefield leasing broker told Crain’s. “Hiring a brokerage company gives you boots on the ground.” [Crain’s] —Christopher Cameron