It’s high-five time at Nine West, the near-mythic office tower at 9 W. 57th Street having fun with latest life under Stefan Soloviev, the son of late developer Sheldon Solow.
The 50-story skyscraper with over 1.6 million square feet behind its famous sloping facade inched closer to 100% occupancy with a newly signed lease with French global asset management firm Tikehau Capital.
The deal for 23,033 square feet on the forty fifth floor brings the constructing to over 96% full.
It’s a far cry from the 50% availability that Soloviev faced when he took control of the property after his father’s passing in November 2020 and when pandemic-ravaged midtown was still largely deserted.
Other tenants at Nine West, because it’s known, include Apollo, Mousse Partners, Loews Corp., Davidson Kempner and Pointstate Capital.
Rents have normally been higher than $200 per square foot.
Soloviev attributed the recent leasing surge partially to having success “personal relationships with tenants.
“We take heed to them and accommodate them,” he said. “It’s a 180-degree turn from what the relationships were prior to now.”
He referred to Sheldon Solow’s notoriously brittle relationships with tenants who sometimes ended up fighting him in court.
Although the tower was prized for its Central Park views and the standard of its finishes, it was rarely full after it opened in 1974.
Some firms feared to go there after Solow sued the likes of Avon and Bank of America over various occupancy and rent issues.
The infamously picky developer also kept large blocks of space vacant slightly than sign tenants he didn’t like or at rents lower than he was willing to supply.
But Nine West is on a roll now. Another excuse for its comeback is an elaborate underground, for-tenants-only athletic club that can soon boast a cold-plunge spa pool.
There’s also a 20,000 square-foot amenities center on the twenty seventh floor.
The amenities program actually began around the beginning of the pandemic.
“We were putting $45 million into the constructing after we didn’t know real estate was headed,” Soloviev said.
The bottom-floor art gallery, now referred to as the Soloviev Foundation Gallery and residential masterworks by such giants as Matisse and Giacometti, is ultimately open to the general public on a limited basis.