Morgan Stanley Hosts a Party of Five

Morgan Stanley & Co., as it negotiates for an office building in Westchester County, has also leased 282,584 square feet at 1221 Avenue of the Americas in midtown Manhattan. The company leased part of the 3rd, the entire 4th, 22nd, 33rd, and 34th floors of the Rockefeller Center tower. This was a very complex transaction, which involved 5 parties and a simultaneous closing. "The strategy behind the transaction was to find other tenants in the building that would benefit themselves by helping Morgan Stanley achieve their occupancy objectives," said Gregg Lorberbaum, managing principal at The Staubach Co. To this end, current 1221 tenants Allen & Overy, represented by Laurence Briody and Melissa Bazar of Insignia/ESG; Sirius Satellite Radio, represented by Staubach's Patrick Robinson and Martin Horner; and XL Capital, represented by Barry Zeller and Jonathan Serko of Cushman & Wakefield Inc., all cooperated to close the deal. Allen & Overy benefited in this transaction by deferring excess space it occupied and giving that space to Morgan Stanley. Sirius Satellite Radio terminated its lease for the 32nd floor, enabling XL Capital to transfer its space on the 30th floor to Morgan Stanley, and in turn XL will occupy the 32nd floor. "This transaction could not have happened without all of them," said Lorberbaum. To achieve this positive result for all parties involved required tremendous finesse. Alan Stein represented the landlord, Rockefeller Group Development Corp. Lorberbaum and Bill Peters represented Morgan Stanley in this highly creative transaction. Morgan Stanley, established in New York City in 1933, is a global financial services firm and a market leader in securities, asset management and credit services. The company, which was the World Trade Center complex's largest tenant, is still finding space for its employees displaced by the terrorist attacks of September 11.