Acadia Realty and PA Associates are working to fill their new office tower at Fordham Road and Webster Avenue.
Fordham Place comes complete with many amenities that are usually seen only in Manhattan office buildings. The upper-floors of the 14-story building have panoramic views of the Bronx. The main lobby boasts 24-hour security and has marble decor. Office space includes nine-foot-high finished ceilings.
Fordham Place is near all major bus routes in the Bronx. The developers say it will bring world-class businesses above the hustle and bustle of the eastern end of the Fordham Road Business Improvement District.
“We are offering a Class A office experience minutes from Manhattan at virtually unbeatable prices,” said Aaron Malinsky, principal of PA associates, one of two builders in the $120 million project. “I expect the final leases to be signed relatively quickly even in the current environment because Fordham Place is a product that until now has not been available to tenants in the Bronx.”
Fordham Place includes 160,000 square-feet of office space, as well as an additional 125,000 square-feet of retail space on the first three floors of the building. Retail tenants Best Buy, Walgreens, Sears, Healthfirst and 24-Hour Fitness call Fordham Place home. Bank of America will join them.
Jonas Bronck Academy has leased the fourth and fifth floors of the building, but will have a separate entrance and elevators. The school will be completely self-contained.
The first renter of the remaining space is the U.S. Census Bureau, opening an office on the eighth floor.
The space can be built to suit tenants leasing as few as 2,000 of the 100,000 square-feet of available space. The going price is $39.50 per square-foot. The developers are sure that area non-profits and government agencies, as well as doctors, lawyers, and accountants will find the building attractive.
“Individual units in this building are as nice as we have seen anywhere in the Bronx,” said Alexander Jinishian, broker and executive managing director of First Service Williams Commercial Real Estate. “We are even offering cleaning services to our tenants.”
The building took four years to complete, and was constructed above what was a single Sears retail store location.
“We believe in the Bronx, and feel that it has been underserved for too long,” said Carolyn Malinsky, of P.A. Associates and the Fordham Road B.I.D. “This property was purchased and developed because its location makes it intrinsically valuable; Fordham Road is the third busiest commercial corridor in New York City.”
