Alumni and students of the University of Texas living in the New York metro area soon will have a gathering place at The Club Row Building, 28 West 44th Street. The University has leased the entire 15th floor, comprising 15,212 square feet, for a combination of alumni relations space, meeting rooms and classrooms that will be built out with a distinctly Texan feel, including exposed brick and barn doors.
The University of Texas is partnering with the Moody College of Communication, the McCombs School of Business and the College of Fine Arts to launch UT in New York. This program will provide semester-long opportunities for students to study, work and live in New York City and has been modeled after a similar program in Los Angeles.
NKF Executive Managing Directors Andy Sachs and Tim Gibson, Managing Director Josh Gosin and Associate Matthew Augarten represented owner APF Properties. Justin Halpern and John Harris of Cushman & Wakefield represented the University of Texas. The asking rent for the space was $66 per square foot.
“The fact that the space held such appeal for a university always looking for cutting edge spaces and progressive teaching environments for its students is a testament to the recent improvements APF has made to The Club Row Building,” Sachs said. “The University of Texas is one of several innovative tenants APF has attracted to the building in recent months.”
APF Properties recently completed a significant capital investment program at The Club Row Building, a 22-story, 372,000-square-foot office building steps from Bryant Park. Building amenities include an on-site, full-service U.S. Post Office, hairdresser, tailor, shoe repair, newsstand and tenant bicycle storage. The building is LEED Gold certified and has also been Wired Certified Gold, signaling its excellence in broadband connectivity and infrastructure. Ownership has recently announced that it plans on constructing a dedicated tenant lounge with conference rooms, coffee bar, pantry, lounge seating and complimentary snacks.
Founded in 1883, the University of Texas System has 14 institutions that have educated nearly 240,000 students. It has locations in Arlington, Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Permian Basin, Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio and Tyler as well as health and science centers in the state. Located in Burbank, California, the Los Angeles Center of the University of Texas at Austin (UTLA) opened in 2005 with just seven students and has since hosted 1,600 students.
“We were excited to work with the University of Texas to bring to life this Texan-inspired home for their students in the heart of Manhattan,” added Kenneth Aschendorf from APF Properties. “CUNY already has a large presence in our building, and our location on ‘Club Row,’ home to the Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Princeton, Penn and Columbia university clubs, made us the obvious choice for UT. This centrally located space will afford students a great opportunity to get the real ‘New York’ experience, studying in the city, engaging with UT alumni and more.”
