New York & Tri-State + Midtown New York + Office | January 12, 2022

GFP Real Estate has refinanced 520 Eighth Ave. in Midtown Manhattan and secured an expansion for tenant Ripley-Grier Studios

Design Firm Mancini Duffy Recommits to Manhattan

JLL has completed a long-term lease at 520 Eighth Ave. in Midtown on behalf of design firm Mancini Duffy. The tenant signed a 12,000-square-foot lease with property owner GFP Real Estate for a portion of the 23rd floor. The company will relocate to its new offices from 275 Seventh Ave.

Mancini was represented by JLL VP Charles Gerace. Ownership was represented in-house by senior managing director Matthew Mandell.

“Our firm has over a century of deep roots in New York City, so the thought of not being in NYC was never an option,” explains Mancini’s CEO, William Mandara, Jr. “We spent a lot of time looking at a myriad of options, both short- and long-term. We design places and buildings where people work, live, eat, and visit, so we felt it is important to show a strong commitment to Manhattan. Anything else would be a bit hypocritical.”

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JLL's Gerace

About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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