Columbia Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CXP) announced today that it has signed a 34,000-square-foot lease with Gemini Trust Company, a digital asset exchange and custodian, at 315 Park Avenue South, Columbia’s 20-story, 331,000-square-foot office building located in the heart of Manhattan’s Midtown South district.
Gemini, which was founded in 2014 by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, is a digital asset exchange and custodian that allows customers to buy, sell, and store digital assets such as bitcoin and ether. The company will occupy two entire floors of 315 Park Avenue South, commencing in early spring 2018.
In late September, Columbia also finalized a full-floor expansion with BDG Media, the parent company of rapidly growing online publications Bustle, Romper, and Elite Daily. The company’s headquarters now includes three entire floors at 315 Park Avenue South, or a total of 51,000 square feet.
“When we acquired 315 Park Avenue South in 2015, we recognized its potential to attract the city’s top creative, media, and technology companies and made significant investments to transform the building into a premier Midtown South destination,” said Nelson Mills, president and chief executive officer of Columbia. “With the building now 73 percent leased and a robust pipeline for the remaining availability, we feel very confident in our value-creation strategy for the property.”
Built in 1910, 315 Park Avenue South is located on a prominent corner at 24th Street, one block east of Madison Square Park. A building-wide renovation to reposition the building as best-in-class in the submarket is nearly complete and includes a refinished lobby with a more modern and stylish design, new building entries, and upgrades to the retail façade. A separate entrance on 24th Street for the new Equinox luxury fitness club has already been constructed, and the remainder of the improvement program is expected to be complete by the end of 2017.
Columbia has engaged L&L Holding Company, LLC, which includes the leasing team of David Berkey and Andrew Wiener, to lease the property.
About Columbia Property Trust
Columbia Property Trust (NYSE: CXP) owns and operates Class-A office buildings concentrated in high-barrier-to-entry, gateway markets. Its portfolio includes 19 operating properties containing over nine million square feet, primarily located in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Columbia carries an investment-grade rating from both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. For more information, please visit www.columbia.reit.
