PUBLICATION: THE REAL DEAL
Japanese watch company Grand Seiko is moving up Madison Avenue.
The company is headed for a new space across 6,200 square feet at DivcoWest’s 540 Madison Avenue on the southwest corner of East 55th Street. It expects to open in early 2023 in the two-level space, which has 3,200 square feet on the ground floor and 3,000 on the lower level.
Newmark’s Benjamin Birnbaum and Alexandra Tennenbaum represented the watchmaker, and Ariel Schuster, also of Newmark, represented the building owner. The asking rent for the 10-year deal was $475 per foot.
The space was previously occupied by a Wells Fargo branch that moved across the avenue.
Grand Seiko is known for its nature-inspired watches that are made in two areas of Japan using mechanical, spring drive and quartz movements. The company has a flagship in Soho and around 80 outposts in the United States.
Its new location is in the base of the 291,000-square-foot, Class A office building that was completely redeveloped by Harry Macklowe in 1999. The property sold to Boston Properties in 2010 along with 510 Madison and a bevy of others as part of Macklowe’s painful, recession-triggered restructuring.
DivcoWest bought the property in 2019 for $310 million and made capital improvements during the pandemic. It added a two-floor amenity center along with food and beverage service and an outdoor terrace. It has also updated the lobby and elevators in the 39-story property. READ MORE.