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605 THIRD'S BIG DEAL

New York
605 THIRD'S BIG DEAL
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY
CoStar
Following a slew of mega leases the past two weeks, the United Nations Population Fund inked a 15-year, 131k SF lease at 605 Third Ave. The agency will move into to the building in October. Colliers International's Andrew Roos represented the tenant, while Jack Whalen repped owner Fisher Bros. in-house. And lots of moving pieces: the space was originally leased to the Nielsen Co., which never occupied the floors, and ultimately sublet them to Pfizer, which was represented by CBRE's Pat Murphy and James Ackerson. Pfizer then sublet the space back to the landlord, with 7.5 years remaining on the lease. Fisher Bros. then leased the space directly to UNPFA while adding an additional 7.5 years to the term.
Sales Transactions Eastern Consolidated sold two properties: the 8.4k SF retail component of 28 E. 10th St., aka the Devonshire House, for $10M(brokers: Ronald Solarz, Eric Anton, Brian Ezratty, and Deborah Gutoff on behalf of the undisclosed buyer and seller, Devonshire Associates); and a six-story, 48-unit elevatored residential building at 315 W. 115th St. in West Harlem for $6.7M (brokers: Peter Carillo and Lipa Lieberman on behalf of buyer West 115 11-13 Associates and seller West 115th Realty).***

Massey Knakal sold three properties: a 27.5k SF warehouse at 158 Pioneer Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn for $3M cash (brokers: Ken Freeman, John Ciraulo, and Megan Flanagan); a 3.6k SF mixed-used building at 430 Hudson St. in Greenwich Village for $2.8M cash (seller rep: James Nelson; buyer rep: Prudential Douglas Elliman's Vickey Barron); and a 116-unit pre-war multifamily building at 100 Highland Ave. in Yonkers for $2.7M cash (seller rep: John Barrett on behalf of RAIT Financial Trust; buyer rep: JMD Capital's Joe Dabbah and HSC Management's Josh Koppel on behalf of Alma Realty).

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150 Mount Bethel Rd. in Warren, NJ
The Hampshire Cos. purchased the two-building, 129k SF Somerset Technology Center office and warehouse complex at 150 Mount Bethel Rd. in Warren, NJ from Archon Group for an undisclosed price. Cushman & Wakefield's David Bernhaut, Andrew Merin, Gary Gabriel, and Robert Donnelly Jr. brokered the sale. Lease Transactions Mizuho Securities USA signed a long-term sublease for 68.7k SF at 320 Park Ave., aka the Mutual of America Building. Richard Bernstein, Adam Ardise, and Ralph Giordano repped the sublandlord, Bear Stearns Cos., while JLL's Paul Formichelli and Jim Wenk repped the sublessee.

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SL Green inked over 42k SF of deals over the past few weeks, including:

  • Kota Group Holding's five-year, 5.2k SF lease at 317 Madison Ave.
  • Education Link Inc.'s seven-year, 5.2k SF lease at 28 W. 44th St. (tenant rep: Prime Manhattan Realty's Scott Bennett; landlord rep: SLG's Amy Shustek)
  • McLaren Automotive's 10-year, 4.4k SF lease at 750 Third Ave. (tenant rep: Cushman & Wakefield's Jared Horowitz; landlord rep: SLG's David Kaufman)
  • McKinley Capital Management's three-year, 3.7k SF lease at 120 W. 45th St. (landlord rep: Kaufman)

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The NYS Office of General Services, which has been subleasing space at 501 Seventh Ave., decided to ink a 10-year, 40k SF direct lease in the building. CBRE's Jonathan Fales repped the owner,W&H Properties.

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420 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
Another sublessee gone direct: Wolfe Trahan & Co. couldn't get enough of 420 Lexington (where it has been subleasing 5.7k SF), signing a 10-year, 19k SF direct lease. CBRE's Sinclair Li and Alissa Jacob repped the tenant, while Larry Swiger and Ashley Gee repped owner SL Green in-house. The building also saw three additional leases:
  • Ensequence's three-year, 3.3k SF lease (tenant rep: CresaPartners' Michael Smith; landlord rep: SL Green's Amy Shustek)
  • James B. Lavelle d/b/a State Farm Insurance Cos.'s 10-year, 2k SF renewal (broker: Gee)
  • Alliance Advisors' five-year, 1.5k SF lease (tenant rep: Kaufman Org.'s Loren Biller; tenant rep: Gee)
***Brune & Richard inked a long-term, 25.6k SF lease and expansion at One Battery Park Plaza. The law firm will occupy the entire 34th floor upon its October move-in. Colliers International's Ted Rotante repped the sublessee, while Studley's John Johnson and Nick Farmakis repped sublessor Bingham McCutchen.

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The Boston Celtics aren't the only franchise Jermaine O'Neal signed with recently—the NBA All-Star just signed a three-year, 1.4k SF showroom lease at 530 Seventh Ave. for his newly formed menswear fashion company, Asjiawear. Newmark Knight Frank's Michael Franz repped the tenant, while Savitt Partners' Bob Savitt,Marc Schoen, and Michael Schoen represented the owner. Other Fashion District leases this week include:

  • Mignone's four-year, 1k SF lease and Biscotti's 462 SF lease at 34 W. 33rd St. (brokers: Adams & Co.'s David Levy and Brett Maslin).
  • Seventh Ave. Gift & Gallery's 11-year, 1.3k SF lease and Sante Classics' seven-year, 1.3k SF lease at 463 Seventh Ave. (landlord broker: Levy; tenant brokers: Levy on behalf of Seventh Ave. Gift, and Adams & Co.'s Joseph Friedman on behalf of Sante Classics).
  • Athlon Sports' two-year, 1.3k SF lease and D.A. on Seventh's five-year, 1.2k SF lease at 110 W. 40th St. (landlord brokers: Levy and Maslin; tenant brokers: NSNYRE's Ian Weiss on behalf of Athlon, and Levy and Maslin on behalf of D.A. on Seventh).
  • Eurostyle International's five-year, 1.4k SF lease, Antex Knitting's three-year, 1.4k SF lease, and Major Textiles Imports' 1.4k SF lease at 1407 Broadway (broker: The Kaufman Org.'s Sommer Scafidi).

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After knitting together a deal, LIC Sweater inked a long-term, 11k SF office lease at 42-24 Orchard St. in Long Island City. Sholom & Zuckerbrot's Joe Eliasoph and Jason Auffarth brokered the deal.

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The Shoppes on the Green in Morristown, NJ
Harvest Restaurants signed a 10.7k SF lease at The Shoppes on the Green in Morristown, NJ for two restaurants. The owner/operator plans to open two concept restaurants, Roots Steakhouse and Urban Kitchen, to anchor the newly constructed project's dining mix. Cushman & Wakefield's Rick Rizzuto, Michael Stone, and Jim Postell are the leasing agents. ***1350 Avenue of the Americas saw two deals: Jumeirah Hospitality & Leisure's 6.7k SF lease modification and extension (tenant rep: Cassidy Turley's Jonathon Schindler) and Charter Bridge Capital Management's five-year, 3.7k SF lease (tenant rep: Newmark Knight Frank's Erik Harris). Howard Tenenbaum and Gary Rosen represented owner SL Green in-house for both deals.

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A knock-out deal for 60 Madison Ave: Mendez Boxing signed a 10-year, 10.6k SF deal for below-grade space with a private entrance for its third Manhattan gym. JLL's Sean Black repped the tenant, while Kimia Shadrokh repped owner The Moinian Group in-house.

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Up the street, 600 Madison saw two fashionable leases: UGG Australia, which took 5k SF on two levels at the corner of 58th St. (tenant rep: Retail Strategies' Mark Finkelstein), and JM Weston's 1.2k SF relocation lease to the ground floor between 57th and 58th Sts. (tenant reps: Cushman & Wakefield's James Downey and Eric LeGoff ). Newmark Knight Frank's Jeffrey Roseman and Kenneth Hochhauser represented owner 600 Partners Co. in both transactions.

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Loving Care Agency inked a five-year, 2.9k SF lease at 754 Route 18 in East Brunswick, NJ. NAI James E Hanson's Anthony Cassano repped the tenant.

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Indian fusion grill Hot Clay Oven plans to heat up 101 Maiden Lane, inking a 1.4k SF lease for its first location in the chain. Prudential Douglas Elliman's Barbara Lamb repped the tenant, while Winick Realty's Darrell Rubens and Joshua Singer represented the landlord, TF Cornerstone. In other Asian fare, chic eatery Koi Restaurant renewed its lease at the Bryant Park Hotel, owned by Philips International.

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A timely move for ToyWatch, which inked a 1.1k SF lease at 509 Madison Ave., near Cellini Jewelers and Tourneau. The “anti-luxury statement” retailer was represented by Prudential Douglas Elliman's Faith Hope Consolo and Joseph Aquino, who also repped the landlord.

Financing

A JV between Stellar Management and Savanna Real Estate Fund recapitalized the 430k SF 2 Rector Street, recasting the mortgage and putting a structure in place to provide for the building's near-term leasing prospects and longer-term stability. Stellar's Ryan Jackson spearheaded the transaction for the landlord, while Karim Demirdache repped Savanna. Cushman & Wakefield's Mitch Konsker and Frank Cento are the leasing agents.

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GCP Capital Group negotiated mortgage financing aggregating nearly $12M in the metro area: $5.2M for 20.6k SF mixed-use building on East Broadway (arranged by Matthew Albano); $4.9M for a six-story elevator apartment building with 83 units in Jersey City(arranged by Stephen Katz); and $1.8M for a 8.4k SF retail building on Rockaway Blvd. in Queens (arranged by Paul Greenbaum).

Construction & Development

85 Challenger Road in Ridgefield Park, NJ
The 235k SF 85 Challenger Road in Ridgefield Park, NJ just completed a $20M retrofit of its Class A office tower, which includes a rebuilt lobby, a 7.2k SF cafeteria with Korean and American food lines, and hallways with Asian-inspired finishes, redone to new tenant Samsung Electronics America's standards (Samsung just took occupancy for its 195k SF US HQ in the space). Cushman & Wakefield is the leasing agent, while KABR Real Estate Investment Partners owns the property. Business Joshua Stein, formerly a partner of Latham & Watkins, formed his own commercial real estate law practice, Joshua Stein PLLC. The practice will handle major financing and workout transactions, distressed loans, loan enforcement, loan originations, acquisitions and sales, ground leases, space leases and subleases, hotels, JVs, development, and other CRE matters. His new office is based at 59 E. 54th St., Suite 22.

Executive Moves

Judd Meltzer joined Studley as senior advisor, working out of the firm's Downtown LA and NYC offices. He's been in the industry since '70 as an independent real estate consultant, advising companies like Swiss Re, VNU America, Continental Grain Co., and Alliance Bernstein. Most recently, he advised the Bauman family in the disposition of its interests at 550 Washington St. and the Coach Building at 516 W. 34th St.

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Michael Hymowitz joined Adams & Co. as associate director, responsible for the exclusive leasing and sales of 315 Fifth Ave., 375 Fifth Ave., and 31 Howard St. He was previously with Tungsten Properties and Oxford & Simpson. He's a graduate of Towson University.

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Matthew Wallerstein joined Metropolitan Realty Associates as VP. He was previously with Cambridge Property Group, and interned in the office of the COO of ProLogis. He's a graduate of Colby College.

Related Topics: Red Hook, TF Cornerstone, Samsung, JOHN JOHNSON, Metropolitan Realty Associates, James Nelson, The Moinian Group, Joseph Aquino, David Bernhaut, John Ciraulo, Andrew Merin, Gary Gabriel, Bob Savitt, Michael Schoen, The Hampshire Cos, Stellar Management, Matthew Albano, Mitch Konsker, Brett Maslin, Jeffrey Roseman, Gary Rosen, David Kaufman, Joseph Friedman, Darrell Rubens, Howard Tenenbaum, Michael Smith, Paul Formichelli, The Shoppes, Frank Cento, Eric Anton, Brian Ezratty, Archon Group, Kaufman Org, Ken Freeman, Larry Swiger, Richard Bernstein, East Brunswick, Jim Wenk, West Harlem, Ted Rotante, Ronald Solarz, Stephen Katz, Prime Manhattan Realty, NBA All, Robert Donnelly Jr, Towson University, John Barrett, Colby College, Jonathan Fales, Loren Biller, Philips International, Deborah Gutoff, Lipa Lieberman, Andrew Roos, General Services, Jared Horowitz, Michael Stone, Peter Carillo, Erik Harris, Sean Black, Sinclair Li, Anthony Cassano, Ashley Gee, RAIT Financial Trust, Rector Street, Kenneth Hochhauser, James Ackerson, Pat Murphy, Retail Strategies, One Battery Park Plaza, Alliance Bernstein, Cambridge Realty Capital, East Broadway, Ridgefield Park, America Building, Michael Hymowitz, Ralph Giordano, Joshua Singer, Tungsten Properties, KABR Real Estate Investment Partners, Rick Rizzuto, Mark Finkelstein, Matthew Wallerstein, Savanna Real Estate Fund, Fisher Bros, Amy Shustek, Alissa Jacob, Alma Realty, Adam Ardise, Megan Flanagan, James Downey, Ryan Jackson, Alliance Advisors, Joshua Stein PLLC, 2 Rector Street, Jack Whalen, Scott Bennett, Jim Postell, Coach Building