Newsday du lieu suivant : New York, New York • 144

TTr -j -w ir ISR ADVERTISING Worldwide Project Moving Midtowns Boundary West Layoffs Dampening Holidays at Firms EXPECT the agency parties this holiday season to cast a muted glow: the music a tone lower, the conversation a shade sotto voce, the laughter a bit forced. How could it be different? Not with so many colleagues out of work. Not after the recent layoffs at J. Walter Thompson and DArcy Ma-sius Benton Bowles and Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon Eckhardt and Ogilvy Mather and so many other agencies. Not without any sign that the crunch might be over.

And certainly not without any indication of who might be next. No one is certain just how many advertising people are out of work in New York, although knowledgeable guesstimates range up to 4,000. And their ranks have been growing since early this year, when mergermania began infecting the indus- By Barbara Selvin AST WEDNESDAYS groundbreaking for $445-million office and residential proje the former site of Madison Square have been a bit hokey the outline of a basket-i court was taped to the mud to evoke the lands sporting past. But the affair marked the fruition of a 2V4-year campaign fay William Zeckendorf Jr. and his partners to win approval of the project from city official and, not least important, community residents.

The vacant block, bounded by Eighth and Ninth Avenues and 49th and 50th Streets, has been a parking lot for more than a decade. Real estate experts say the project is significant because it marks an attempt to broaden the definition of Midtown. Its a clear sign of confidence that development is shifti'ig to the West said Stephen Spinola, resident of the eal Estate Board of New York. The opportunities are basically west of Eighth Avenue This is a sign that the market is there and that theres i ing to continue to 1 growth in Mid-town." Plans call for 661 townhouse and high-rise apartments, 57,000 square feet of retail space, a plaza, and a 47-story, 1.5-mil-lion-square-foot office tower that will house the headquarters of Ogilvy Mather Worldwide, the advertising agency. The project, called Worldwide Plaza, is scheduled for occupancy in 1988.

"Its been a real struggle, Zeckendorf said before the ing. Rendering of Worldwide At the time of the purchase, the zoning "did not justify the price, he said. It permitted about 1.1-million square feet of building space. In previous attempts to build there, various developers had sought to build nearly 3-million square feet for projects ranging from amusement parks to shopping malls with high-rise apartment towers, but none made it off the drawing board. Zeckendorf decided to try for a zoning change that would permit him to build 2-million square feet.

The citys planning commission allowed him 1.6 million, with a bonus of another 400,000 after he agreed to improve the IND 50th Street subway station and add a public plaza. Experienced developers say maint-aining mod relations with community groups is often essential to the success of a large-scale project. Mary Brendle, then chairwoman of Community Board 4, which includes Clinton, said that Edith Fisher, a Zeckendorf vice president and the projects manager, called her the day after the company obtained the Land. The company worked closely with the board, Brendle said, maintaining informal contacts even when formal talks broke off after three months. Discussions, which eventually resumed, centered on providing low-cost rimming and maintaining the neighborhoods retail character.

Although there are still some residents in the neighborhood who deplore the entire project, the board last spring approved it 32 to 0 with seven abstentions. To win the boards support, Zeckendorf agreed to renovate 132 nearby housing units for low- and moderate-income tenants. The next hurdle was negotiating with the city planning commission. Zeckendorf and his architects decided to continue the low-rise profile along Ninth Avenue, designing six- and seven-story townhouses with apartments above stores. Along 49th and 50th Streets, the townhouses will have stoops and private entrances.

About half the 661 units will be in the apartment tower. Some will be condominiums; others, rentals. Zeckendorf said he expects condo prices Continued on Page 13 Plaza, facing Ninth Avenue i blows have fallen most heavily on middle-level people, according to Judy Wald, head of Judy Wald Agency, an advertising recruitment firm. Wald said she continues receiving requests for both senior and junior people, but "middle management seems to be getting eliminated. The same agencies firing people are also hiring, but in specific areas, she said.

The people who are out of work are not the ones they the agencies are looking for, Wald said. The message these days is the bottom line. They dont even talk about the quality of applicants work. Mergers are a major cause of the layoffs. The joining of two or more firms creates redundancies throughout the new entity; when two people hold the same job, someone has to go.

And when a client so disapproves of a merger that it leaves fin- a new agency, some more bodies servicing that account must be cut. Still another key factor is disinflation within the industry, brought on by a combination of a spending slowdown by advertisers and an end to madia price increases. The agencies particularly those that have been bought are determined to run leaner and more profitable shops. These days, the bottom line gets as much attention as campaign theme lines. Taken singly, none of the agency layoffs amounts to much: 55 at J.

Walter Thompson; 13 at Bozell, Jacobs; 52 at DArcy Masiua; 60 at Ogilvy Mather. Over a period of months, however, the agency layoffs do add up to a formidable figure. And there is no certainty that the job hemorrhage finally has been stopped. No wonder, then, that the industry is eyeing the approaching holidays with a sober air. In keeping with the new spirit, the agencies are lowering their party profile.

The elaborate events at posh watering holes will be replaced by more subdued and inexpensive gatherings in the office. Let the celebrations begin. The J. Walter Thompson U.SLA. Consumer Healthcare Division signed on the Vanderbilt University Medical Center McCann-Erickson appointed three vice presidents: account supervisor David K.

Edwards, associate creative director David S. Levine and associate creative director Stuart Pittman Publishing Chicago, acquired New Product News from DFS Dorland. Martin J. Friedman is continuing as editor Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon Eckhardt was named agency for Action Industries, a subsidiary of the Lane Co. George F.

Tyrrell was elected chairman of the Association of National Advertisers. Tyrrell is vice president for advertising of Johnson Johnson Milton Samuels Advertising was agency of record for Don Rum. in lie financing didnt fall together until within two or three months of the deadline fin closing on the sale Theres no easy way to do these things. The site itself totals four acres. Zeckendorf and his partners topped a half-dozen bidders with a inn-mil linn offer in December, 1984.

As conditions for the sale, Gulf Western the seller, required a nonrefundable letter of credit and closing within 18 months. Twenty-four months would have been a more logical time factor than eighteen, Zeckendorf said. NEWS DAY. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17. 1986 NY 3 Part III PC-Rental Business Grows er this year of PC-rental operators produced a consensus figure of $50 million for total volume for 1986.

That compares with an overall PC sales market of $22.5 billion, according to market analyst Alice Brown Of StoreBoard, a computer market research firm in Richardson, Texas. StoreBoard first looked into the PC rental market about two years ago, Brown says. "It was extremely small at the time. We looked at it as a potential area for extra business for computer dealers, an add-on for them. Indeed, in addition to companies that specialize in PC rentals, a growing number of computer dealers are following suit.

Says Beraie Whalen, execu- Continued on Page 13 By Martin Levine CALL IT the fear factor. Personal computer rentals appeal to people paralyzed by the prospect of buying them, as well as to executives terrorized at the thought of doing without them. As a result, a strong rental market is developing nationwide. While PC rental companies still lack the renown of car-rental companies like Hertz or Avis, the business is proving fertile territory for entrepreneurs. Many rental businesses that specialize in PCs started in someones home and, with few exceptions, are strictly small-scale.

Although little data exist on the nationwide market, an informal gathering earli.