Press Release
New York, April 30, 2010 - Kenyon & Kenyon LLP has renewed its lease at One Broadway for 10 years. Kenyon originally moved its New York office to the One Broadway site in 1981, leasing four floors of the building. Over the past three decades, the firm’s New York office has grown into occupancy of the entire 11-story structure, which includes 200,000 square feet of contiguous office space.
“We have experienced tremendous growth over the years and look forward to continuing on that path,” said Richard S. Gresalfi, the firm’s managing partner. “Remaining in this location will allow us to continue to provide premium client service and build on the firm’s 130-year-old legacy of supporting the future of lower Manhattan,” he added.
Headquartered in lower Manhattan since its founding in 1879, Kenyon’s occupancy at Broadway’s point of origin is fitting. The firm was established in the same year that Thomas Edison gave his first public demonstration of the light bulb and Charles F. Brush switched on his arc lights along Broadway from 14th to 26th Streets. Naturally, Kenyon litigated the validity of those patents, among many others associated with the emergence of the electric power and light industry. Since then, the firm has expanded the scope of its practice to include the representation of clients in all areas of intellectual property law, including litigation, patent and trademark prosecution, copyright and design, and international trade. Over the years, the firm’s client base has expanded throughout the United States and around the world. Notable clients include Akzo-Nobel, Fisher-Price, Mattel, Olympus, Robert Bosch, SAP, Sony, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Toyota, Volkswagen and Walmart.
Like the firm, the building at One Broadway carries a rich New York City history. Dubbed the “Washington Building,” the site on which it is built was once used as one of George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War, and was considered during the turn of the 20th Century to be New York City’s first skyscraper. Just across the street in Bowling Green Park, Peter Minuit purportedly purchased Manhattan Island for $24 in trinkets.
In 1919, the International Mercantile Marine Company altered the exterior of One Broadway to limestone from the red brick that distinguished its façade as the Washington Hotel for almost forty years. It also adorned the edifice’s second floor with mosaic renditions of seaports across the globe, from Southampton to Sydney and Naples to New York.
In addition to its vistas of the upper bay where the Hudson and East Rivers meet, One Broadway also features unique design elements that relate back to its shipping company ownership. The exterior doors of the first floor have ‘First Class’ and ‘Cabin Class’ designations above their frames as the company’s cruise line originally used the 160-foot first floor that stretched from Broadway to Greenwich Street as a booking office. The lobby also features murals representing the eastern and western hemispheres, marble compasses in the floor, and displays of antique maps.
Jon Mechanic, Ross Silver, Daniel Finley and Michael Rhee of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP represented the firm in this transaction. Steve Siegel, David Hollander, Andrew Sussman and Adam Foster of CB Richard Ellis served as the firm’s brokers.
About Kenyon & Kenyon LLP
Kenyon & Kenyon is consistently ranked by peers and in-house counsel as one of the top firms for intellectual property law. Since its founding in 1879, the firm has provided its worldwide clientele with litigation, prosecution, licensing and counseling services. Large and small enterprises and individuals choose Kenyon to design and implement intellectual property strategies when it matters most. The firm has offices in New York, Washington, DC, and Silicon Valley.