It took less than four years for Brookfield Properties to turn the emptied-out shell of 666 Fifth Avenue into a fully occupied 660 Fifth Avenue.
Scotiabank signed a lease for 205,000 square feet at Brookfield’s Midtown Manhattan property, Crain’s reported, taking the fifth, sixth and seventh floors of the building. Brookfield did not disclose the asking rent or length of the deal, but CoStar estimated asking rents at the property range from $88 to $108 per square foot.
Scotiabank is expected to relocate from another Brookfield property, 250 Vesey Street, to open an office in 2027. The fate of Scotiabank’s 131,000 square feet at 250 Vesey, a lease that isn’t set to expire until the end of 2032, is unclear.
Brookfield was represented by an in-house team, as well as a CBRE team including Howard Fiddle, Peter Turchin and John Maher. CBRE’s Michael Geoghegan, Ramneek Rikhy and Eric Thomas represented the tenant.
Hitting full occupancy represents a significant turnaround for a property mired in controversy less than a decade ago.
Brookfield purchased the 99-year ground lease from Kushner Companies in a $1.3 billion deal in 2018, raising questions about whether Jared Kushner leveraged foreign policy connections to secure a bailout of the property; the Qatari government holds investments with Brookfield.
Brookfield spent $400 million rededeveloping and modernizing the 39-story, 1.25 million-square-foot property, putting on a new facade reclad with glass panels, along with an upgraded lobby, amenity space, elevators and improved infrastructure to significantly reduce the carbon footprint.
In May 2022, Australian financial services company Macquarie Group became the first tenant to sign on at the revamped property, taking 250,000 square feet. Other tenants to jump on board soon after included 400 Capital, Stephens and Viking.
Late last year, Citadel agreed to take 504,000 square feet at 660 Fifth, the second-largest lease of the second quarter in Manhattan.
