Groupon signed a lease for the entire fifth floor at 33 West 19th Street, around the corner from competitor LivingSocial. Groupon will pay rent in the mid $50s and receive a relatively insignificant concessions package. Groupon's rent is  higher than the rent paid by Infogroup on the second floor in the same building, and higher than LivingSocial's rent at 101 Fifth Avenue, another indication of the continued demand for Midtown South Properties we noted in our Q4 Effective Rent Report.Get The Groupon comp on CompStak Get the Infogroup comp on CompStak Get the LivingSocial Comp on CompStak

Excess Line Association signed a renewal for 9,500 SF at 55 Broadway. According to The Commercial Observer asking rents in the building were in the high $30s and low 40s, and our data shows that the non-profit has agreed to pay rent in the low $40s for the 5-year term. This rent is in line with the average Downtown rents of $39 PSF we reported in our Effective Rent Report, and the narrow spread between asking and starting rent provides further evidence for the heating Downtown market.

JP Morgan's year long search for subtenants at 277 Park resulted in two newly signed leases: Abernathy MacGregor Group will rent the entire 39th floor paying rent in the high $50s TIs around $60; Sterne Agee will add the 26th floor to its existing 24th and 25th floors, and will pay slightly less than Abernathy. These deals are another example of subtenants' ability to secure good bargains in class A buildings in Midtown. For comparison, The Agricultural Bank of China is leasing the entire 30th floor directly for about $80 PSF.