Midtown East office tower 780 Third Ave. gets a botanical upgrade
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Welcome to the rebranding party!
Nuveen Real Estate is re-positioning 780 Third Ave. as The Gardens at 780, capping a $40 million, “biophilic” upgrade of the 512,000 square-foot office tower at East 48th Street that was originally the Wang Building.
It’s the latest move by a major landlord (Nuveen boasts $152 billion in assets under management) to make a 20th-century office tower more appealing in the post-pandemic 21st century.
Design firm A + I oversaw the project to bring nature and greenery to tenants. Nuveen, which has owned the 1983-vintage, granite-clad tower since 1999, is completing extensive interior amenities that include a state-of-the-art gym and wellness center, a tenants’ cafe and lounge and conference rooms.
Nuveen has exploited the tower’s deep setback on the avenue to create a 12,000 square-foot public mini-park to open in June. David Morton’s hospitality group DMK will launch a restaurant and oversee the entire building’s food and beverage program.
Nuveen director of office and life science Brian Wallick said the changes and additions “will provide tenants with a model post-pandemic work environment in the heart of Midtown East.”

Current office tenants include financial firms Olive Tree Holdings, Lincolnshire Management and Baillie Gifford. The tower is 64 percent leased. Asking rents range from $68 -92 per square foot.
CBRE vice-chairman Paul Amrich is the leader of the leasing team.
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