The once-staid office tower at 1290 Sixth Ave. is joining the avenue’s fast-growing fun, food and games parade.
Owner Vornado Realty Trust signed a 15,300 square-foot lease with Five Iron Golf, the growing empire of indoor golf simulators and instruction facilities designed “to bring out the golfer in everyone,” as its founders describe it.
The location, its sixth in Manhattan, will be open to the public.
Avid golfer Donald Trump owns a 30% passive stake in 1290 Sixth, “But we suspect he won’t be able to make the opening of Five Iron next year,” an insider quipped.
The latest addition is part of the roughly $45 million in new tenants’ amenities at 1290 Sixth. The 52nd Street entrance will lead to a concourse-level array of green-lovers’ goodies, including a 6,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art fitness and wellness center, and a 3,000 square-foot ground-floor tenants’ lounge.
Vornado’s plan for 1290 also includes a 12,000 square-foot “tablecloth” restaurant on the West 51st Street side leased to an unidentified outside operator.
The tower also boasts a 230-person “town hall” meeting facility on a 17th floor setback, where Vornado is building a 10,000 square-foot pavilion and landscaped terrace.
A Vornado source said the 1290 Sixth additions reflect a decision to “bring our work-life features at Penn 1 and Penn 2 north.”
The redeveloped Penn towers near Madison Square Garden have enjoyed rapid leasing success, including a recent 36,000 square-foot deal with accounting firm Weaver & Tidwell.
Although the 43-story tower’s two million square feet are about 90% leased to tenants such as Neuberger Berman, King & Spalding and Cushman & Wakefield, our source said the recent exit of large user AXA made clear the need for the kinds of much-in-demand tenant amenities such as the ones at Penn 1 and Penn 2.
Most office asking rents at 1290 Sixth run from $95 to $105 per square foot. Terms of the Five Iron lease were not released.
The changes at 1290 are in line with Sixth Avenue’s remarkable revitalization since the days it was considered a bland, corporate corridor interrupted only by Radio City Music Hall.
Office towers north of 42nd Street are now home to restaurants such as STK Steak, Del Frisco’s, Avra, Salt Bae’s Nusr-Et, and soon to be joined by Carnegie Diner — and by something big at 1290 Sixth.
For calorie-free fun, there are the MLB store, an expanded Brooks Brothers, and Rockefeller Center’s Rough Trade music store.
The corridor’s vacancy rate is between 10% and 11%, compared with a Manhattan-wide average of 20%.
