Nope, still not used to it

51 Astor Place aka the IBM Watson Building.

IBM officially opens its Watson division at 51 Astor Place today

[Photo via @IBM back in January when it was stupid cold out]

That's right, IBM opens its new business unit surrounding its "Jeopardy"-ass-kicking super computer at 51 Astor Place — aka the IBM Watson Building.

According to New York Business Journal last evening, this marks "a milestone in the company's $1 billion effort to monetize its cognitive computing power and remake its image for a new era."

The article also notes that 600 employees have moved into the 120,000-square-foot space. You can read more about their offices here. (They have an incubator!)

We're sure we'll see the gang at the Grassroots later. $1 off pints; $2 off pitchers for happy hour!

Previously on EV Grieve:
My dear Watson: 51 Astor Place is now the IBM Watson building

Meanwhile at the IBM Watson building, the Jeff Koons rabbit sculpture has arrived for the lobby

You can finally shop at 51 Astor Place!

The IBM Watson building finally has some (temporary) retail.

On Tuesday, hotelier-developer Ian Schrager unveiled the sales office and model apartment for his incoming hotel-condo tower at 215 Chrystie just below East Houston.

We haven't covered this at all so … we're looking at a 28-floor building due, maybe, winter 2016. There will be 11 residences sitting atop the 370-room hotel.



Per Curbed:

Prices start from more than $7 million for a two-bedroom, half-floor apartment, while the full-floor units on the 30th and 31st floors will be more expensive, naturally. The penthouse, which takes up the whole 32nd floor plus a roodtop deck, will be "in the twenties."

The Real Deal notes that the condo prices are poised to break a sales record for the neighborhood. No kidding.

Anyway, the sales office, on Third Avenue near East Ninth Street, has a model unit with a living room, dining room and kitchen, per Curbed. (Not sure about a bathroom. But ask anyway. Say you had a particularly bad $1 slice. It will be cool.)

Here's a rendering of one of the units…



Head over to Curbed for more details. Also, the Observer.

St. John's brands 51 (or 101) Astor Place

St. John's University continues to prep its new 71,000 square feet of space for its Manhattan campus here at 51 Astor Place/101 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/Death Star, etc.

According to a release about the move from December:

The new location will house St. John’s School of Risk Management, a key division of the University’s Peter J. Tobin College of Business and a global leader in risk and insurance education and training.

The School of Risk Management contains the Kathryn & Shelby Cullom Davis Library, which comprises the world’s largest collection of risk and insurance literature, policies, and related documents, and serves as a center for study and research for students of risk management, insurance, and actuarial science around the world.

The location will also be home to The Language Connection, St. John’s intensive English language institute, and to continuing professional education and other academic programs.

St. John's plans to be ready for the fall semester. The new site replaces the school's Manhattan campus in Tribeca, which the University sold for $223 million in July 2013.

Meanwhile, we've already spotted several students walking to their new campus...


[Random photo from last week by Derek Berg]

Because we haven't posted anything about the IBM Watson building in like 3 weeks

The April issue of The Real Deal takes a look at how the leasing came together for 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building … if you're interested …

The building still has some 75,000 square feet to lease … not to mention the three retail storefronts, which total roughly 15,500 square feet.

Developer Edward Minskoff "estimated that the last of the office space would be spoken for in about 45 to 50 days. The building is seeing about five or six tenant showings a week, sources said."

Said Minksoff: "There is an old saying that an ugly building that is 100 percent leased is beautiful, but a beautiful building that is 100 percent leased is gorgeous."

And now we're off to brush up on our old sayings…

Retail spaces still available at the IBM Watson building

Last June, we noted that three retail spaces were available at 51 Astor Place… Meanwhile, earlier this year, several readers noted that the listings ("flagship opportunity!") for the spaces were no longer active on the RKF site … leading some folks (like us!) to figure a retail announcement was imminent.

Apparently not! An EVG reader pointed out that new "retail space available" signs went up the other day at the IBM Watson building (aka, 51 Astor Place, the Death Star).



So while the building may be filling up with tenants, there aren't any takers yet for the retail portion… now being repped by SRS …



Here's part of their marketing materials…



Hey, they left off the Grassroots!

And to end … we'll recap a previous post…

EVG readers shared their thoughts last June on what kind of businesses they thought would lease these retail spaces. Popular answers included bank branch, bank and bank branch.

Previously on EV Grieve:
3 retail spaces available at 51 Astor Place (22 comments)

A record deal at 51 Astor Place (AND STOP CALLING THIS AREA MIDTOWN SOUTH!)

Let's head over to The Real Deal for this story:

Claren Road Asset Management, a credit-focused money manager that is a subsidiary of private equity giant the Carlyle Group, will take the top floor of Edward Minskoff’s 51 Astor Place, The Real Deal has learned. The 25,401-square-foot space was asking a rent of $118 per square foot, a record for Midtown South. Sources familiar with the transaction said that it was likely the priciest per-square-foot deal struck in the neighborhood.

With this lease, 51 Astor Place/DeathStar/the IBM Watson building is now 85 percent, uh, leased.

Now can we look at a map please. Oh, here is an official one from the city of New York.



OK, you see where Midtown South is on the map? And you see this neighborhood?



Anyway, everyone knows that this area is known as WeAs (West of Astor) or LeLa (left of Lafayette Street, depending on which way you are facing).

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Maps show that Midtown South does NOT include the East Village/Astor Place

Condo conversion one possibility for 61 4th Avenue, now on the market for $15.5 million

There's a new listing for 61 Fourth Ave. via Massey Knakal.

Let's take a look at the pitch:

Located on the east side of 4th Avenue between East 9th and East 10th Streets, this six story mixed-use building will be delivered vacant. This is an excellent condominium conversion opportunity or a live-investment given its centrally located between the East Village and Greenwich Village. Although the current C of O is a mix of office and art studio space, the building could be converted to residential as-of-right. The building is across the street from Facebook’s new office at 770 Broadway and one block from 51 Astor Place which will soon be the headquarters of IBM Watson and 1stdibs.

Asking price: $15.5 million.

And apparently the push continues to expand "Midtown South" into a neighborhood that already enjoys several names ... the accompanying marketing materials show that 61 Fourth Ave. is aka 61 Park Ave. South ...



Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village — the new Midtown?

Facebook is moving into the neighborhood; Midtown South expands its boundaries, apparently

What are these workers painting inside the retail space at the IBM Watson building?

Yes, the headline is the question! EVG regular William Klayer caught this action yesterday afternoon inside 51 Astor Place (aka, the IBM Watson building), where "they were painting like mad."

Hmm. What do you suppose is inside this new yellow box thing? (Something for the rabbit?)

Meanwhile, several readers have pointed out that the listings ("flagship opportunity!") for the three ground-floor retail spaces are no longer active on the RKF site. So perhaps a retail announcement is imminent.

EVG readers shared their thoughts last June on what kind of businesses they thought would lease these retail spaces. Popular answers included bank branch, bank and bank branch.

Previously on EV Grieve:
3 retail spaces available at 51 Astor Place (22 comments)

An IBM Watson building update, and its possible future consequences

The Wall Street Journal checks in (registration required) on our friend the IBM Watson building (aka 51 Astor Place).

While developer Edward J. Minskoff didn't fully lease the building by the end of January like he predicted, the place is 70 percent leased, and will likely reach 90 percent in a few weeks if all the negotiations go well with prospective tenants. All this has quieted those real-estate skeptics who thought Minskoff was bananas for building the 400,000-square-foot tower on spec.

"My gut feeling was that when it was finished, the tenants would come," said Mr. Minskoff. "And that's exactly what happened."

And the long-term impact on this neighborhood?

Mr. Minksoff's tower could still face leasing challenges if his deals in the pipeline aren't signed. But if he fills the building at high rents as he predicts, his success could spur other developers to build office properties in the area or to buy older buildings and upgrade them.

"The building and tenant roster have increased the real estate value in the surrounding area." said Paul N. Glickman, vice chairman at Jones Lang LaSalle, the leasing agent for 51 Astor.

The IBM Watson Group is the anchor tenant here with 120,000 square feet.

It's officially Rabbit Season now at the IBM Watson Building

The 14-foot red rabbit sculpture by Jeff Koons is now up and ready to leak pellets greet visitors to the IBM Watson Building at 51 Astor Place…



It was impressive enough to cause people to stop and photograph it during a snowstorm yesterday. (Present company included.)



Word is the thing weighs 6,600 pounds.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Meanwhile at the IBM Watson building, the Jeff Koons rabbit sculpture has arrived for the lobby

Watson still hasn't learned how to shovel snow

Oh! Just a scene this afternoon outside the IBM Watson building (formerly known as 51 Astor Place) ... At least Ken Jennings can push a shovel.

Photo by Derek Berg

My dear Watson: 51 Astor Place is now the IBM Watson building

[Photo via @IBM]

A few more details have emerged in the aftermath of last Thursday's announcement that IBM is opening a new business unit surrounding its "Jeopardy"-ass-kicking super computer at 51 Astor Place.

For starters, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that IBM beat out Twitter for the 120,000-square-foot space.

IBM moved quickly to secure its spot in the 12-story tower by Astor Square, negotiating the details of the lease in just four days, said Edward Minskoff, the building's developer. "Twitter's a wonderful company and I would love to have been able to do both deals," Mr. Minskoff said.

And!

The building has been renamed — Please welcome the IBM Watson building to the neighborhood!

Per the Journal, the 12-story building is more than half-rented—with IBM, a 71,000-square-foot lease with St. John's University and a 42,000-square-foot lease with 1stdib. Leases on another three floors three floors are being negotiated.

Minskoff had said he'd fully lease 51 Astor Place by the end of this month.

Meanwhile at the IBM Watson building, the Jeff Koons rabbit sculpture has arrived for the lobby

We spotted this tweet yesterday from Katya Kazakina, art market reporter at Bloomberg News...

What's this? Jeff Koons balloon rabbit going up @ 51 Astor place: 6,600 pounds of stainless steel #artmarket pic.twitter.com/r1LBKmJjwh
— katya kazakina (@artdetective) January 14, 2014

As the Times noted last March, the new building at 51 Astor Place will feature a 14-foot-tall red rabbit sculpture by Jeff Koons will anchor the granite lobby.

OK! To date for the building, we have Watson, an artificially intelligent computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language, and now a 14-foot-tall red rabbit. Now what?

Report: IBM's 'Jeopardy' computer and $1 billion group headed to 51 Astor Place

There are multiple reports this morning that IBM is making Watson, that smart AI computer system who kicked some "Jeopardy" ass a few years back, the centerpiece in the company's new $1 billion business unit.

And why should you care? Let's go to Forbes to tell the story!

IBM says it plans to spend over $1 billion on the new unit, which already includes over 2,000 employees, in the next several years, out of the new 51 Astor Place. Mike Rhodin will head up the group, which the company hopes will help it reach a $20 billion revenue projection for its big data and analytics services by 2015.

The announcement of the new unit and its headquarters in ‘Silicon Alley’ is for a simple reason: to find some positive momentum for IBM within CEO Ginni Rometty’s 2015 roadmap, while showing techies in New York that IBM can be cool, the company hopes.

Here's the official Watson website with more details on the company's new 51 Astor Place space.

Perhaps 51 Astor Place developer Edward Minskoff will have the joint fully leased by the end of this month after all.

And say — do artificially intelligent computer systems like tuna melts?

Updated:

Reaction from Twitter...

.@evgrieve Wait...what? I thought @KenJennings was moving in. This is completely different.

— 51 Astor Place (@51deathstar) January 9, 2014

That photogenic 51 Astor Place

A small film crew remains camped out on the southeast corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place… with various cameras pointed toward 51 Astor Place… all I got out of a crew member — they are there to shoot "a time-lapse project."

St. John's makes plan to move Manhattan campus to 51 Astor Place official

Just a few days after 51 Astor Place developer Edward Minskoff boasted that he'd have the whole 12-story building leased by the end of next month... comes word from St. John’s University, who announced today that it has leased 71,000 square feet of space for its Manhattan campus. (This move was first rumored in July.)

Here's part of the official news release of the move:

Situated in an area that is home to more than 50,000 college students, the new location will house St. John’s School of Risk Management, a key division of the University’s Peter J. Tobin College of Business and a global leader in risk and insurance education and training.

The School of Risk Management contains the Kathryn & Shelby Cullom Davis Library, which comprises the world’s largest collection of risk and insurance literature, policies, and related documents, and serves as a center for study and research for students of risk management, insurance, and actuarial science around the world.

The location will also be home to The Language Connection, St. John’s intensive English language institute, and to continuing professional education and other academic programs.

St. John’s plans to open 51 Astor Place for the 2014 fall semester. The new site will replace the school’s Manhattan campus in Tribeca, which the University sold for $223 million back in July 2013.

Anyway new incoming students, try the tuna melt across the street at Archie & Sons. Good stuff!

Developer says 51 Astor Place will be fully leased by the end of January (2014)

Missed this post from Friday in the Observer … in which 51 Astor Place developer Edward Minskoff, who built the whole thing on spec, sounded confident he'd have the place full soon.

“By January 30 we’ll be 100 percent leased there, and that’s all I’ll say,” he told The Commercial Observer today, declining to give any additional details.

In October, 1stdibs reportedly signed a 15-year lease for the entire third floor. And there are also rumors that Twitter is in negotiations for space here.

Someone is vandalizing the glass at 51 Astor Place

The other day, EVG regular Terry Howell noticed that workers were gluing sheets of clear plastic to the ground-floor windows on the Fourth Avenue side of the currently empty 12-story office building ...

"I asked them what's the purpose of the sheets, thinking that maybe the owners wanted to tone down the blinding glare and reflections from the building," said Terry, learning that "nothing civic minded was going on."

Turns out that people are scratching graffiti and what not on the windows. The sheets are a "protective covering" to prevent such acts from happening again in the future...







Apparently the abandoned building look isn't really in fashion here…

Looking at the 51 Astor Place lobby

Now with a security guard and Menorah, per this photo by an EVG reader … all ahead of any tenants, though some are on the way...