SL Green’s repositioning of 609 Fifth Ave. has paid off. The publicly traded real estate giant has leased the building’s entire office block — 139,000 square feet on 11 floors — to unstoppably expanding WeWork, The Post has learned. SLG took control of the property at the corner of East 49th Street a few years ago. It had served as a lender to previous owner Jeff Sutton but then bought Sutton out. Then, “We negotiated lease buyouts and relocations for office tenants and it’s now 100 percent vacant,” said SL Green Executive VP and Leasing Director Steven Durels. The strategy was “triggered,” he said, by American Girl’s plan to leave its space when its lease was up. The store’s move to 75 Rockefeller Plaza a few blocks away created the opportunity to reconfigure ground-level space — and thus move the office entrance from Fifth Avenue to East 49th Street among other improvements. Sneaker-maker Puma signed for all of the previous American Girl space earlier this year and will open on three floors next year. SL Green structured 609 Fifth as two condo units for tenants’ tax purposes — one for offices, the other for retail. Durels said the asking rent for WeWork’s floors was $85 per square foot, but wouldn’t say what the deal was actually done for. SLG is considering recapitalization of 609 Fifth’s office condo, which could take the form of a sale or a joint-venture interest or financing. WeWork will take occupancy in November. The co-working space giant proudly proclaimed itself the city’s largest private-sector office occupier this year, boasting 5.3 million square feet at 60-odd locations. JLL’s Peter Riguardi, Howard Hersch and Joseph Messina represented WeWork.
WeWork has reached an agreement with SL Green to lease all 609 floors of the real estate firm's 609 Fifth Avenue office block in New York . After SL Green made the offices vacant through lease buyouts and relocations, the co-working space firm agreed to lease all 139,000 square feet of the property for an undisclosed amount, although the asking rent was reportedly $ 85 per sq ft. The flexible office operator will take occupancy of the new block in a few years ago .