Doubles Space Immediately with Expansions Planned in Future
NEW YORK, May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — ASA College, offering degree programs in accounting, computer programming, information technology and medical assisting, has signed a long-term lease to expand to nearly 160,000 square feet at JEMB's Herald Center, a 10 story, 250,000 square-foot retail and office property at the southwest corner of 34th Street and Broadway.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130514/PH12761-a)
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130514/PH12761-b)
ASA currently occupies space on the first three floors of the property. The new lease will have ASA vacating that space immediately and more than doubling their existing space to 112,000 square feet on the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh and floors of Herald Center by June. The deal allows ASA College to consolidate classroom and administrative space from throughout Manhattan into one Midtown location.
JEMB will create a dedicated ASA ground floor lobby entrance on the 33rd Street side of Herald Center and give the college exclusive use of the elevators servicing their floors. The deal includes room for expansion in the future, when another 48,000 square feet will be made available, bringing total occupancy to 160,000 square feet under a long-term lease.
"ASA College has been a tremendous tenant for many years at Herald Center and we are gratified that they have chosen to undertake this major expansion of their Herald Square campus," said Bobby Dweck, who negotiated the deal on behalf of the owner. "The College's cooperation was essential to our plans to undertake a complete transformation of the asset to both secure the long-term occupancy of the office portion and create an exciting new retail leasing opportunity encompassing more than 50,000 square feet of prime retail space at one of the most heavily trafficked, high-visibility corners in the world."
ASA was founded in 1985 in a small Brooklyn classroom and has since grown to serve over 6,000 students in 20 programs of study on two large, centrally-located campuses in midtown Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn. Today, in addition to computers, ASA's programs focus on the rapidly-growing industries of healthcare, business and criminal justice.
"We chose this location because it is a public transportation hub where the subway, buses and other forms of transportation all converge, making it accessible to all five boroughs of New York City and neighboring states as well," said Alex Shchegol, president and founder of ASA College. "As an institution accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, ASA College enjoys the highest level of accreditation, thus allowing its students to transfer their credits to best colleges and universities."
The ASA lease clears the way for the transformation of Herald Center long-envisioned by JEMB, which acquired the asset in 1986. The property will be completely reclad to create a bright and exciting retail destination. The owners will be removing the black glass panels on the first three floors and replacing them with transparent panes that will enable flagship retailers to showcase their brands and goods to the more than 100 million pedestrians who pass the property each year. In addition to the new facade on the base floors, floors 4-10 will also be transformed with L.E.D. panels, creating a light display that will invigorate Herald Square and thrill passersby.
JEMB Realty Corp. is an experienced real estate owner, developer and manager headquartered in Manhattan that acquires, upgrades and repositions commercial, retail and residential property in existing and emerging city business districts. With its subsidiary BUSAC Real Estate in Montreal, Quebec, JEMB owns and operates in excess of 7.2 million square feet of commercial space in North America.
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