| New York, NY - July 11, 2013 - TPG Architecture, the largest interior architecture firm headquartered in New York, has just signed a lease for 40,000 square feet on two floors at 31 Penn Plaza, a Savanna property. Jim Phillips, founder of TPG, is thrilled with the decision, saying, “We looked at many buildings in several neighborhoods and thought that this space was the most efficient and convenient, and offered the greatest potential.”
As a leader in office space planning and design, TPG creates millions of square feet of offices every year for law firms, media agencies, private equity firms and other corporate clients. The chance to start with a clean slate of 27,000 square feet on the 5th floor and 13,000 square feet on the 4th floor, connecting via an open stair, presents another exciting opportunity for TPG to showcase its expertise in forward-thinking office design. “When we were first visiting the building, we could stand in the middle of the floor and see through the block, with 10’ high windows looking out along a straight axis from 31st Street to 30th Street; this gave us a sense of largesse and possibility,” says Managing Design Director Larry Berger.
The partners were committed to soliciting the opinions of the design staff as they started to envision the form that the new space would take, and when they sent out a survey, asking about people’s needs and wishes for the new office, 89% of the firm responded. “Our new office will be smart, modern, well thought-out and it will express the values and mission of the firm,” explains Mr. Phillips. “This office will be a working lab for TPG. We will be designing benching seating, proper layouts, a tremendous amount of collaborative space, and a centrally located interactive, electronic resource area for everyone’s benefit,” adds Mr. Berger.
31 Penn Plaza, also known as 132 West 31st Street, is an 18-story, classic pre-war office building that was constructed in the 1920’s. Located between 6th and 7th Avenues, Mr. Phillips notes that “There are many exciting reasons to be in this location: it is extremely convenient to transportation, and the neighborhood is in a fantastic transition with the advent of large-scale development along Sixth Avenue, tremendous development plans for Hudson Yards to the west and general improvements happening all around the Penn Station area.”
“We went to Midtown South 10 years ago and we flourished there,” Phillips said. “This deal was about finding the next hotspot.”
TPG Architecture was founded in 1979 and has grown from a small partnership to a design firm of approximately 210 staff, with offices in New York City, Long Island and London. While the firm's core competencies are in corporate and retail design, TPG has cultivated practice groups in education, broadcast, architecture, healthcare and branding and graphics. Current and recent clients include: HBO, Rothschild, Interpublic Group, Chase Bank, SL Green, DKNY, Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa and Crocs. | 
