2 Gansevoort Street and William Kaufman’s Jonathan Kaufman Iger
Kobalt, a tech-driven independent music publisher, is relocating from Midtown to the Meatpacking District, where it signed a lease for 23,000 square feet at the William Kaufman Organization’s 2 Gansevoort Street.
The company, which raised $75 million in a funding round earlier this year, is growing and expects to have 500 employees by the end of the year, the Wall Street Journal reported.
It will double the size of its current office in Midtown at 220 West 42nd Street.
The William Kaufman Organization’s landmarked, nine-story 2 Gansevoort Street was built in 1912 and spans 210,000 square feet. It’s recently undergone improvements including a new lobby and modern elevator, new heating and air conditioning system and new windows.
The company’s owned the building since 1948.
The Meatpacking District, where new construction is drawing deep-pocketed tenants, has seen new kinds of companies in the neighborhood lately.
Insurance giant Aetna last month inked a deal to lease the entire, 145,000-square-foot office portion of Aurora Capital Associates and Vornado Realty Trust’s 61 Ninth Avenue.
William Kaufman Organization recently refinanced its 850,000-square-foot-tower at 437 Madison Avenue with a $145 million loan from Bank of America. Jonathan Kaufman Iger took over as CEO of the fourth-generation firm last year following the death Robert Kaufman. [WSJ] – Rich Bockmann