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Troubled real estate giant Olympia & York USA asked city officials to "pressure" a municipal agency to rent a huge chunk of space in a cash-strapped O & Y building, according to a top city official.
But the city refused to urge the Department of Housing Preservation to lease 500,000 square feet in 2 Broadway as part of an assistance plan for the city's largest commercial landlord and property taxpayer, public documents show.
O & Y USA officials denied asking for pressure or any special treatment for the lease, estimated to be worth about $10 million a year based on current market rents. The company is still in the running for the lease, city officials said, with at least two other commerical landlords.
The 2 Broadway building, at the foot of Battery Park, is one of the more troubled in the O & Y portfolio. Once a top workhorse filled with securities and brokerage industry tenants, the vacancy rate is near 60...