Contact Us
News

RECAP COMPLETE; THE DEAL SHEET

New York
RECAP COMPLETE; THE DEAL SHEET
SL Green and The Moinian Group have completed the recapitalization of 3 Columbus Circle, a 769k SF office tower currently in the final stages of a $175M redevelopment.
3 Columbus Circle, New York, NY
The completion follows the settlement of a dispute regarding the previous mortgage, and German American Capital Corp and theRelated Cos have relinquished all claims on the property, while lender liability litigation has been withdrawn against them. The recapitalization includes a $138M equity investment by SL Green, a portion of which will be in the form of SL Green operating partnership units. As a result, the property is now fully capitalized for all costs necessary to complete the redevelopment and lease-up of the building. The existing mortgage had been refinanced with a bridge loan provided by SL Green and Deutsche Bank, which will be further refinanced by third-party lenders at a later date. SL Green will also lead the multi-million dollar leasing and marketing program funded by the partnership to reposition the development and attract large office users. FTI Schonbraun McCann Group was the advisor.

Sales Transactions
BIG DEAL!
Host Hotels & Resorts entered into an agreement to purchase the fee-simple interest in the 775-room New York Helmsley Hotelfor $314M. At closing, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwidewill take over management of the property as an unbranded hotel. Significant property improvements are planned, including complete guestroom and bathroom renovations and upgraded meeting spaces. The Westin brand will be added to the hotel upon completion of the improvements, projected to be in early- to mid-2012. CBRE repped the seller.
Newbury Commons, Stamford, CT
Highlands Urban Renewal, an entity controlled by Manulife Financial Corp, purchased the 415-unit The Highlands at Plaza Square in New Brunswick, NJ from MRA Plaza Apartments I Urban Renewal for $113M. CBRE’s Jeffrey Dunne, Kevin Welsh, and Christopher Leonard brokered the deal. Jeffrey and Christopher also repped the seller in TIAA-CREF’s purchase of the 261-unit, two-tower Newbury Common high-rise apartment community inStamford, Conn. (pictured) from Newbury Common Associates, an entity of Seaboard Properties, for $62M. ***A Chicago-based manufactured housing investment firm purchased the 101-acre, 328-space manufactured home community Thurm’s Estates in Calverton, Long Island, from MHC Thurms for $21.7M. Marcus & Millichap’s Buddy Martin, Ian Glasser, and JD Parkerprovided representation.

***

Massey Knakal sold six buildings, among them: a 35k SF warehouse at 22 N 15th St in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for $6.2M cash (brokers:Mark Lively and Brendan Maddigan); a 7.5-acre development site zoned for commercial or residential at S Conduit Ave and Linden Blvd in Howard Beach, Queens for $4.5M cash (broker: Stephen Preuss); a 23-unit multifamily building at 200 Freeman St in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for $2.7M cash (brokers: Lively and Maddigan); and an 8,148 SF historic office building at 368 E 148th St in the Bronx for $1.6M cash (broker: Nick Burns).

***

Helios Capital completed a non-performing loan sale transaction worth $4.1M for three multifamily properties totaling 48k SF inHarlem and Upper Manhattan. The firm advised the investor, a private local investor, and a regional New York bank.

***

Suntex Ventures and Harrison Street Real Estate Capital acquired the Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City, in close proximity to the Statue of Liberty, for an undisclosed amount. The marina has 520 wet slips, two restaurants, a private clubhouse, fuel service, a ship store, and a full-service boat repair and maintenance facility. The purchase was made on behalf of the Harrison Street Real Estate Partners III fund.

Lease Transactions

Harborside Financial Center in Jersey City, NJ
The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ inked a 10-year, 137k SF lease extension at Harborside Financial Center in Jersey City. The lease now carries a 2029 expiration. Cushman & Wakefield’s Fred Smithand Curtis Foster repped the tenant, while Mack-Cali is the owner. ***Sentry Center signed a 10-year, 23k SF lease at 810 Seventh Ave, where it will open in April after a $1.2M tech and architecture upgrade of the space. Chris Gulden repped owner SL Green in-house.

***

2 Rector Street saw three long-term leases totaling more than 23k SF: Five Star Electrical Corp, NEE Consulting, and Goldstein Capital. A Cushman & Wakefield team lead by Frank Cento is marketing the space on behalf of owner Stellar Management.

***

Novartis signed a 15-year, full-floor, 22k SF lease at 230 Park Ave, where it will be relocating from 608 Fifth Ave. Cushman & Wakefield’sMitch Barnett and David Malawer repped the tenant, while CBRE’sPaul Amrich and Monday Properties’ Jordan Berger repped ownerMonday Properties.

***

eResearch Technology inked a 10-year, 19k SF lease at 685 Route 202 in Bridgewater, NJ. It’s a two-part transaction; the first two years are a sublease from Enzon Pharmaceuticals, while the following eight years will be a direct lease with the landlord. Colliers International’s John Cunningham and Newmark Knight Frank smith Mack’s Reid Blynn repped the tenant, Cushman & Wakefield’s Ron Ganter repped the sublandlord, and Justin Gingeleskie repped owner KRE Group in-house.

***

Janklow & Nesbit Associates extended its 16k SF lease at 445 Park Ave through 2017. Cassidy Turley’s Harry Krausman repped the tenant, while Dakota Realty’s Mordecai Elazary and Robert Finkelstein repped owner Park Avenue Properties.

***

Cortview Capital Securities inked a five-year, 11k SF lease at 650 Fifth Ave. Grubb & Ellis’ Larry Zuckerman repped the tenant, while JLL’s James Quinn, Gary Youm, and Randy Abend repped the owner.

***

The Gap 1969 concept store signed a 8,000 SF lease for its first permanent NYC location at 513 Broadway, taking 2,800 SF of ground-floor selling space, as well as basement and sub-basement space. Robert K. Futterman & Associates’ Ariel Schuster and Izzy Anthony repped the tenant, while owner 513 Broadway Realty was repped in-house.

Financing

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler arranged $41.3M in financing for the 550k SF Princeton Forrestal Village in Princeton, NJ. The firm’s Mike Tepedino and Jon Mikula worked on behalf of Investcorp International to secure the five-year, fixed-rate loan from Morgan Stanley, and the securitized loan provided acquisition and leasehold financing with Princeton University as the lessor under the ground-lease agreement.

***

GCP Capital Group arranged mortgage financing totaling more than $24M, including: $13.3M for a five-story elevator and a one-story commercial building on Northern Blvd in Long Island City (arranged by Adam Brostovski); $7.3M for two, two-story garden apartment buildings totaling 140 units in Elizabeth, NJ (arranged by Brostovski); and $3.9M for four apartment buildings totaling 62 unitsin Jersey City (arranged by Paul Greenbaum).

***

CBRE’s capital markets debt and equity group arranged a $4.8Mpermanent mortgage loan for a 38k SF office at 70 Eisenhower Dr inParamus. The firm’s James Gunning and Donna Falzaranoobtained the non-recourse financing from a local commercial bank on behalf of Millstein Paramus.

Construction & Development

The Parkway Lofts, a multifamily adaptive reuse project in Bloomfield and East Orange, NJ
Prism Capital Partners received Phase I site plan approvals forThe Parkway Lofts, a multifamily adaptive reuse project inBloomfield and East Orange, NJ. Both townships voted unanimously to accept Prism’s plan to convert a 113-year-old, 365k SF industrial property into 355 loft-style apartments. The firm intends to commence construction this spring. BusinessThe RADCO Cos formed R4, a real estate sales and marketing firm to serve builders, banks, and other lending institutions throughout North America in expediting the completion of development plans. The R4 team, led by Kevin Price, has arranged over $100M in property sales each of the last three years operating as RADCO’s sales and marketing arm. He’ll be joined by Victor Valentine andScott Mehlman in management.

Executive Moves

CBRE has expanded Americas brokerage president Chris Ludeman's role to co-president of the firm’s capital markets business with Brian Stoffers. The firm also promoted Spencer Levy to executive managing director, expanding his responsibilities within capital markets, and promoted Todd Caruso to lead the company’s retail agency practice for brokerage and asset services in the Americas.

***

The Praedium Group promoted three: Ronald Strobl to CFO, andMark Lippmann and Robert Murray to managing director. Ronald is responsible for all of the firm’s financial activity, and has been with the firm for 17 years. Mark and Robert will continue their efforts as part of the investment team handling the Southern and Western regions of the US, and have been with the firm for seven and eight years, respectively.

***

Charles Goldberg has joined Colliers International as senior managing director. He previously held positions at NAI Global,Cushman & Wakefield, and Grubb & Ellis. He’s a Princeton grad and attended NYU’s School of Business and Schack Institute.

***

Ellaina Dreifach has joined Massey Knakal Retail Leasing Services as director of retail leasing, working directly with Benjamin Fox. She was previously with Eretz Realty, and held positions atDRA Advisors, Forest City Ratner Cos, and Peter Friedman.

***

Stribling & Associates promoted Elizabeth Ann Stribling-Kivlan to director of marketing and business development, and hired Rebecca Mason as EVP and director of sales. Elizabeth served as a salesperson for four years and EVP for three, and will direct all marketing and new business development initiatives at the firm. Rebecca joins from Caran Properties, and will be responsible for managing both of Stribling’s Downtown offices.