About 32,000 square feet of space in Woolworth Building, 223 Broadway is reserved for the New York City Law Department.
Located in NY's Financial District, the department's Tort Division will occupy the 57-story skyscraper's entire fifth floor, as per land use tracking system of the Department of City Planning, The Real Deal reports.
A lease has not yet been signed, reports show, yet the deal has been closed, allowing the Tort Division expand beyond the current office space of the Law Department. However, The Lawrence Group, assigned to transact leasing in Woolworth Building, did not comment about it, neither the Law Department's spokesperson.
Moreover, as per 42Floors, asking rent price for the space is $55 per square foot. The retail space on the fifth floor was once rented by Cochran Firm, headed by Johnnie Cochran, the late trial lawyer. Cochran Firm has transferred to a 10,000-square-foot space at Harbor Group International's 55 Broadway, the source added.
The Woolworth Building was named after Frank Winfield Woolworth, "five and dime" Woolworth retail chain's owner. Inspired by the European Gothic architecture, specifically the neo-Gothic Houses of Parliament in London, Frank asked architect Cass Gilbert to build a Gothic-inspired tower with many windows as the new office building for his company. That is why the U-shaped skyscraper has a steel frame and a Gothic design, according to A View On Cities. This skyscraper, which is 241,2 meters in height, was completed in 1913 and was named the tallest building in the world until Manhattan tower and Chrysler Building became two of the tallest buildings in 1930.
The iconic tower's current owners are the Cammeby's and Witkoff Group, led by Rubin Schron and Steve Witkoff, respectively. The source reveals that they sold the top 30 floors to Alchemy Properties, an investment group, in 2012 at $68 million.
Alchemy Properties then has transformed the upper portion of the building into residential condos, one of the ultra-luxury condos in the city.
