April 7, 2015
Commercial Observer reports that Anheuser-Busch is branching out from its native St. Louis and has signed a lease in NoMad. The massive beer company has inked an 11-year lease at 119-125 West 24th Street, which is owned by The Kaufman Organization. The new office will house Anheuser-Busch’s marketing and advertising teams.
In just four months on the market, 119-125 West 24th Street has reached full occupancy with only two tenants. Anheuser-Busch’s lease encompases the 7th through 12th floors of the building — a total of 83,686 square feet. Rent for the office space is reported to be $65 per square foot. It will share the building with AlleyNYC, a new co-working space.
In addition to office space, Anheuser-Busch will have exclusive access to the building’s rooftop, a private entrance on the building’s west side, and a ground-floor public space. There are already plans to create a beer garden, according to Crain’s Business New York.
By moving to New York, Anheuser-Busch hopes to attract top talent in marketing and advertising to its team. New York City also gives the company the ability to shop around for advertising agencies more easily. Speaking to Crain’s, Jorn Soquet, VP of US Marketing, says, “It will be good to date again, look around [see] who is out there, have some interesting conversations and see what we could potentially do to add to our roster.” They may not have to look very far, because the NoMad area is already home to a large and growing number of advertising and design firms, including leaders such as Grey Advertising, Addison, and Pentagram.
The Kaufman Organization purchased 119-125 West 24th Street, along with the rest of the Ring Portfolio in April 2014. All told, Kaufman gained four buildings from the Ring brothers. Gaining Anheuser-Busch as a tenant is a huge coup and is indicative of the very successful way they have been managing the newly acquired properties.