THE DURST ORGANIZATION PARTNERS WITH ACCLAMINED CULINARY ENTREPRENEUR CLAUS MEYER AND CONVENE AT 4 TIMES SQUARE

Frank Gehry’s Designed Cafeteria To Be Part of 45,600 Square Foot Amenity Floor

The Durst Organization today announced its partnership with Michelin-Starred Restaurateur and Entrepreneur Claus Meyer and Convene to operate the amenity space at Four Times Square. Claus Meyer will curate and operate all food and beverage functions to create a one-of-a kind workplace eatery, which includes a food hall in the Frank Gehry designed cafeteria, coffee bar run by Meyer’s Brownsville Roasters, corporate catering and grab and go options, all on the building’s 4th floor.

Convene has signed a management agreement with Durst to operate and manage the 20,000 square foot meeting, event and conference space. The $35 million full-service amenity floor will include a dedicated meeting planning team and robust technology infrastructure, and is part of an additional $100 million capital upgrade in the building.

“We look forward to collaborating with Chef Claus Meyer and Convene to create an extraordinary amenity at Four Times Square,” said Jonathan (Jody) Durst, President of The Durst Organization. “We have a unique opportunity to create an alternative work space for our growing tenant roster and their employees that will foster greater employee productivity and a sense of community within the building.”

“The art of cooking for people is at the heart of everything we do,” says Meyer, who revolutionized the culture of workplace dining in Denmark through his work with over 70 corporations, “at every level, our mission to take care of and nourish our guests is truly a passion.” Meyer is especially proud to partner with The Durst Organization and Convene, citing their shared passion for sustainability and environmental consciousness.

“Through our partnership with Durst and Meyer, we're developing a best-in-class workplace experience that goes far beyond a conventional office environment – one that feels more like a full-service, lifestyle hotel,” said Ryan Simonetti, co-founder and CEO of Convene. “Our collaboration will give every employee at 4 Times Square access to the latest workplace amenities, the best hospitality services, and an extensive collection of unique cuisine options.”

The 45,600 square foot floor was redesigned by Studios Architecture. The northern portion will feature a coffee bar and lounge, a servery with artisanal food hall stations serving fresh, locally source food and beverages, and a wood-lined Portal that opens to the Garden Room with a floor to ceiling green wall. The Frank Gehry designed cafeteria, originally created for former tenant Condé Nast, was reimagined as a striking architectural centerpiece of the floor. Powered by Convene, the flexible meeting and event space on the floor will include boutique meeting and event spaces for companies looking to host conferences, town halls, corporate events, team off-sites, trainings, and board meetings. Each space has state-of the-art technology and access to lounges, breakout spaces and on-demand refreshment stations. To promote wellness and community, Durst will offer curated event programming such yoga, meditation and networking events. The Durst Organization recently completed a $100 million-plus capital improvement plan at 4 Times Square which included new entrances, lobby, new turnstiles and concierge desk, a new destination dispatch elevator system and 30 modernized elevator cabs.

Steeped in Meyer’s continuous dedication to nutritious and locally sourced ingredients, the new food and beverage amenities will boast an ever-changing menu of entirely housemade specialties, available to the building’s tenants and their guests. In addition to the healthful dishes that Meyer has become known for at Great Northern Food Hall, the new project at 4 Times Square will also include a diverse roster of rotating vendors, reflecting the food hall’s location at the epicenter of New York City. A coffee shop, operated by Brownsville Roasters, will begin operations in early 2018.

The Durst Organization is an investor in Convene, which operates an approximately 37,000 square feet corporate meeting and event space at Durst’s 117 West 46th Street. Convene also manages One World Commons, a full-service tenant amenity space on the 64th Floor of One World Trade Center.

The Durst Organization was represented in-house by Principal David Neil, Executive Vice President of Commercial Leasing Tom Bow and Senior Managing Director of Commercial Leasing Rocco Romeo and was advised on food and beverage matters by Omri Green of TZ Hospitality Advisors.

Convene (www.convene.com) changes the way the world works by transforming the way businesses work. By partnering with the largest landlords in commercial real estate, the company designs and services the next generation office building – one that feels more like a full-service, lifestyle hotel. Convene’s integrated “workplace-as-a-service” platform gives building tenants and enterprise clients access to a growing network of premium meeting and event spaces, flexible workspaces, hospitality services, and curated experiences for users, all connected by the company’s proprietary technology platform. Founded in 2009, Convene has locations in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., with plans to expand globally. The company has been named one of America’s 100 Most Promising Companies by Forbes, one of America’s fastest growing companies by Inc. Magazine, and the #11 Best Workplace in New York by Fortune Magazine.

Meyers USA is a hospitality group founded by Danish culinary entrepreneur Claus Meyer. In 2016, Meyer and his team launched a family of food projects in New York: Agern, a Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurant with Nordic roots located in Grand Central Terminal, and Great Northern Food Hall, also located in the terminal, consisting of five food pavilions, a hot dog stand, a bar and eatery, offering Nordic-inspired fare for take-away and table service. In addition to Agern and Great Northern Food Hall, Meyer is the co-owner of Norman, an all-day café in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, located within A/D/O, a workplace for creative professionals, which he operates in partnership with Chef Fredrik Berselius (Aska, of which he is also a partner). Using food as a vehicle for social progress, he founded the Melting Pot Foundation in 2010, which operates the Brownsville Community Culinary Center, an eatery and culinary training program for and by the community of Brownsville, Brooklyn. The Melting Pot Foundation also operates as a nonprofit in Denmark and La Paz, Bolivia, where the foundation’s restaurant Gustu has been named one of the best restaurants in Latin America.
The Durst Organization, founded in 1915 by Joseph Durst, is the owner, manager and builder of 13 million square feet of premiere Manhattan office towers and 1,950 residential rental units with 3,400 in development. The Durst Organization is recognized as a world leader in the development of high-performance and environmentally advanced commercial and residential buildings. www.durst.org

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CONTACT:
Jordan Barowitz

The Durst Organization

212/257-6605

jbarowitz@durst.org

Katie Reisert

Claus Meyer/Bullfrog + Baum

212/255-6717

kreisert@bullfrogandbaum.com

Jenna Wollemann

Convene

651/226-7051

jwollemann@convene.com