Real Estate Board of New York

Each year, the Real Estate Board of New York, Inc. honors one of its members with "The Most Ingenious Deal of The Year" award. This prize was re-named the Henry Hart Rice Achievement Award in 1991, in honor of the well-known New York real estate broker. Since its inception in 1944, a wide variety of transactions have been selected, including the United Nations site assemblage in 1946 and more recently the 1999 financing of the Henry Hudson Hotel.

Only a handful of projects are nominated each year by members of REBNY, which is New York City's professional real estate organization.

The Plymouth Partners transaction for Getty Images, Inc. at One Hudson Square was nominated because of its extreme intricacy and the delicate timing issues involved. Among the highlights were:

• Finding and securing more than 225,000 square feet in one of the tightest, most volatile property markets in history
• Coordinating 14 buyouts or holdovers in seven different Manhattan locations
• Negotiating for a space requirement that was a 'moving target' as Getty images acquired and consolidated its rivals

Ultimately, this transaction was not selected for the award. Getty Images, however, was the true winner since it secured its new facility at a minimum cost despite the difficult market situation.