PRSA Moves Silently to 120 Wall St., Staying Downtown

PR Society of America, after 12 years at 33 Maiden lane, far from the midtown PR/ad/media industries, has moved a short distance away to 120 Wall st.

The only word of the move was a posting Dec. 22, 2016 on Facebook by Donna Jonas, executive assistant and leadership project manager.

The Facebook posting showed some pictures of the new offices and had several dozen comments by members and others including two by this writer. We ask for details of the new lease such as size of office, rent, length of lease and how many full-time staffers are now employed.

Staying downtown is another slap in the face to the New York PR community and all members who were not given any voice in this decision. It is a decision by the Accredited members of the Society. Although the APRs are only 18% of the members, they have held control since the 1970s. The 2017 board is 16 APRS and one non-APR. Moves led by Steve Pisinkski in 1999 and Richard Edelman in 2010 aimed at erasing APR from the bylaws went nowhere.

The same ploy was pulled in 2003 when leaders told the conference that year that it had signed a 13-year lease for 22,000 sq. ft. on the 11th floor of 33 Maiden Lane in lower Manhattan, giving it 50% more office space. The space, the only vacancy in one of the premium buildings downtown (also known as Two Federal Reserve Plaza) has been on the market at $30 a sq. ft. Airport-level security was enforced by the building.

Neither Laura Kane, chief communications officer, nor CEO Joseph Truncale returned emails seeking more information. New York chapter members that we are in touch with had no word of the move. “This was another stealth real estate deal,” said one.

120 Wall St. in “Mid-$50’s”

Asking rents at 120 Wall, said to be “fully leased up,” were in the mid-$50s per square foot, the New York Post reported. It noted that ad agency Droga5 had leased another 110,000 square feet in addition to the 98,000 it had.

Larry Silverstein had purchased the building in 1980. He told NYT that tenants are moving into lower Manhattan because many employees live in nearby Brooklyn. NYT noted that a recent setback for Silverstein was the decision by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and 21st Century Fox to back out as anchor tenants at Silverstein’s 2 World Trade Center. “That project is now in limbo,” said NYP.

PRSA COO Catherine Bolton said in 2004 that because of various incentives the price at 33 Maiden lane would be below the $23 per sq. ft. price being paid at 33 Irving place, PRSA's 14,500 sq. ft. home since 1987.

Assuming a $23 a sq. ft. lease for 13 years, PRSA has signed a $6.5 million commitment, by far the biggest financial deal in its 57-year history.

There have been no articles on the decision to move downtown in any PRSA publication nor any mention on its website. There was no debate among members on the decision.

PRSA said the possibility of relocating h.q. was brought to the attention of the 2003 board who granted permission for staff to proceed with the search. It was not stated who brought the matter to the board's attention.

PRSA's first known revelation of the intended move to members was made to Assembly delegates Oct. 25, 2003 in New Orleans. It was presented as a decision that had been made and that was in the final stages of being implemented.

PRSA said it looked at 25 cities before deciding New York was the best location. It is not known whether chapter leaders or members were told about the survey, which was made in partnership with two real estate firms, PRSA said.

Assembly Had Voted to Leave New York

The Assembly in 1985-86 twice voted to move h.q. out of New York after chapters in seven cities (including New York) made presentations. 

The board over-ruled the Assembly, saying only the board could make such a decision.

Some members in chapters across the country had complained that the midtown location gave New York chapter members unfair access to Society facilities. When PRSA/NY had such access and the h.q. staff worked closely with the chapter, it had 1,200 members in the 1960s and early 1970s. The chapter was ordered to leave h.q. in 1991 because former COO Betsy Kovacs said the space was needed.

PRSA several years later rented out many hundreds of square feet of its office to the Metropolitan Transit Authority which had the space until the end of 2002.

Chapters, Members Quiet on Move

No public comment on the move has come from any New York chapter leaders or the leaders of any other chapters. Bolton described the impending move to the chapter board in December 2003 and she said the directors were supportive of the move downtown and even thrilled by it.

However, veteran chapter members told this NL that anti-New York fever is running so high in PRSA that it would be useless to oppose the h.q. staff and the 17 non-New Yorkers on the board. We didn't want to get in a fight with national, said a longtime member.

A downtown location makes little difference to PRSA/NY since few chapter members ever go to h.q. and coordination with h.q. is minimal, chapter members said. PRSA/NY pays an outside service $100,000 a year to manage its affairs. 

Some members say the inconvenient location could hurt the Society. Downtown door-to-door is about a half hour away from midtown by cab or subway. Rush hour traffic could add to the time. 

Board and staff members would not say whether PRSA has been able to sub-lease 33 Irving. The lease there extends to 2009.

PRSA officers and staffers have charged that conditions in the building make it almost uninhabitable. Conditions were so bad that the board would not meet there on one occasion last year. However, conditions have improved lately, staffers said.