7West Toys with New Category
By Brent Felgner, Playthings magazine -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 2/9/2007 3:21:00 PM
New York — An email was sent this week to current and former tenants of the International Toy Center, proposing that members of the toy industry move their showrooms to 7 W. 34th St. The building, which already hosts a wide range of gift, home decor and home textile showrooms, is currently 75 percent leased, according to Chris Collins, vice president and general manager of 7West New York.
The invitations come two years into the search for a new home for the toy industry. Andrew Stern and Mike Berke, leaders of the now-defunct 200 Fifth Avenue Tenants Association, sent the email, along with another principal in a rep firm, Len Soyka. The message states that building management company Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. (MMPI) is offering 65,000 square feet of non-contiguous showroom space in the building at a base rental of $42 per square foot, plus $3 per foot for electricity.
Other details of the proposed deal include lease terms that would run three to eight years. For leases of five years or more, MMPI offers an additional $1 per square foot/lease year building allowance. Rents would escalate 3 percent a year after the first year, along with any tax increases. Each showroom would be painted, fitted with track lighting and carpeted at the landlord’s expense.
The proposal was discussed at a Toy Tenants Association meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, February 11, in Jacob Javits Center meeting room 1A03. Real estate brokers and press were barred from the meeting. The letter also stated that MMPI will run tours of 7West February 12–14, following each day’s close of Toy Fair.
