BY JOTHAM SEDERSTROM

Condé Nast and Interpublic Group were the gifts to New York that kept on giving, as the former added 138,773 square feet to the 1 million it inked last year at One World Trade Center and the latter blazed through a series of deals throughout the year, beginning with a whopping 220,359-square-foot transaction in October and ending with a smaller one last month.

In all, the city’s 10 biggest office leasing transaction were modest compared to 2011, when deals by Nomura Holding and Coach reached nearly 2 million square feet alone.

Still, a wave of transactions from a variety of business sectors—from government and education to legal, financial services and media—proved that, even during economic doldrums, bold can be beautiful.

To see the 10 biggest offices leases of 2012, click here

BY BILLY GRAY

The five-year saga involving the General Services Administration and 1 World Trade Center reflects both intractable Washington gridlock and the lurching progress at the building formerly known as the Freedom Tower.

When the GSA , an independent government agency in charge of supplying and managing federal offices, secured a 270,000-square-foot lease at 1 World Trade Center, it pushed the still-rising landmark above 50 percent occupancy.

But along the way there was a dramatic scaling back of lease terms, an angry congressman and a Las Vegas spending spree that nearly torpedoed the transaction.

After the jump, an illustrated guide to the biggest deal of the year.

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BY AL BARBARINO

Technology firm Epiq Systems has inked a deal for roughly 100,000 square feet of office space at 685 Third Avenue, The Commercial Observer has learned.

A source familiar with the details of the negotiations said the deal was finalized last week.

685 Third Ave_optThe 31-story, 650,000-square-foot building, between East 43rd Street to East 44th Street and near Grand Central, is owned by TIAA-CREF (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund).

The financial services firm bought the property from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in 2010 for $190 million, city records show, and it has since performed extensive renovations on the property, including a renovated lobby.

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BY AL BARBARINO

CVS Pharmacy has leased a 14,274-square-foot retail condominium space below Alchemy Properties’ Griffin Court Condominium development at 454 West 54th Street, which was also sold to Heskel Group earlier this month, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The 25-year lease includes 9,000 square feet of street level frontage, set below the eight–story residential towers, where 95 condo units that hit the market in 2010 are roughly 85 percent occupied.

The property is located in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, a first for CVS, and in close proximity to the theatre district.

cvspharmacy“We chose this location because they are firm believers in the development occurring on the west side,” said Ross Kaplan of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, who represented CVS along with Jason Pruger and Trever Gallina. “The space has an expansive storefront and it’s a clean new development on a corner location. These are all things CVS looks for in their locations.”

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