COLGATE'S NYC BRUSH-OFF?
CONSUMER GIANT LOOKING AT JERSEY CITY FOR BACK OFFICE SPACE

New York Post
By LOIS WEISS

October 31, 2007 -- It may all be a trick or maybe it will be New Jersey's treat, but Colgate-Palmolive Co. could be pretending to wash its hands of the majority of its 300 Park Ave. headquarters. Or not.

A group headed by Tishman Speyer Properties now owns its namesake 779,048-foot, green-glass tower between 49th and 50th streets opposite the Waldorf-Astoria. According to CoStar Group, Colgate occupies about 525,000 feet in a lease that expires in 2010.

But while the consumer products giant negotiates with TSP, our sources add that it is also making offers to jump to Jersey with 200,000 to 300,000 feet, while keeping a headquarters presence on Park Avenue.

With Class-A rents along the Jersey City shore running in the $30s and $40s and government incentives up the wazoo, Colgate could afford to pay the $80 to $100-plus per foot Class-A rents on Park Avenue for the portion of office space that stays in the city.

Of course, it also wouldn't hurt to tap Mother Big Apple for a handout, in order to prevent the company from crossing the river with all those employees.

Brian Givens of GVA Williams is heading the space search and couldn't be reached yesterday.

TSP executives had no comment through a spokesman.