Staying in New York’s Financial District

(January 29, 2007 – New York, NY)  After nearly fifteen years, the Federation will be moving from its headquarters at 120 Wall Street, at a facility that has housed dozens of regional, national, and international nonprofits.

“The history of the building is a unique one,” explained Federation Executive Director Cliff Rosenthal, who brought the Federation to Wall Street in 1992.  “It was converted to a center for nonprofits after the Wall Street crash of 1987, when downtown Manhattan saw huge vacancy rates and was seen as an obsolete, declining area.”  Larry Silverstein, the building’s owner who has since become famous as the owner of the World Trade Center site, won a bidding process that brought major tax benefits, enabling him to offer the office space at 120 Wall at far below-market rents.”  The Federation became one of the earliest not-for-profit tenants in the building, which previously housed diverse tenants including coffee wholesalers.

However, since September 11, Lower Manhattan has seen a dramatic reversal in fortune, with considerable new construction of residential apartments and even more extensively, conversion of older office buildings for housing.  It is the impending conversion of 120 Wall Street to high-end residential condominiums, coupled with sharply rising rents that motivated the Federation to seek a longer-term, more cost-effective lease.

Additionally, the move will enable the Federation to significantly upgrade its telephone and computer networks, which will help harness new technologies to better serve their members.

“I often say that we’ve been living in nonprofit heaven,” said Rosenthal, “with low rents and panoramic East River views.  We’ll be sad to leave, but our new premises will give us long-term security.” 

The Federation will occupy a full floor at a building just four blocks north of its current location, even closer to a major transportation hub on Fulton Street.  “The view is not too bad either,” added Rosenthal, “stretching from the East River to the Hudson, and uptown to the Chrysler and Empire State buildings.”

The Federation’s new address, effective on February 16, will be: 116 John Street, 33rd Floor, New York, New York 10038.

The Federation’s e-mail addresses and main telephone numbers will remain the same.

© 2007 National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.