Naftali Closes On $810M Fifth Ave. Deal: This Week’s N.Y. Deal Sheet
Naftali Group scored a $675M financing package to fund an $810M purchase of 800 Fifth Ave.
Naftali struck a deal for the building with sellers Winter Organization and Spitzer Enterprises earlier this year, and the new financing from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and GoldenTree Asset Management helped to close the deal, Bloomberg reported.
The equity for the acquisition came from family offices from Israel, Japan and Mexico, per Bloomberg. The 33-story property is currently being used as luxury rental housing but will be torn down in favor of a new luxury condo building.
“We’re proud to have built it, owned it and are now excited to see Miki Naftali create an absolutely spectacular addition to New York City,” former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer told Bloomberg.
Newmark’s Adam Spies, Doug Harmon, Marcella Fasulo and Adam Doneger brokered the sale, while Jordan Roeschlaub and Nick Scribani handled the financing.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
The Domain Cos. and LMXD have closed on a joint venture agreement with Park Tower Group to codevelop a mixed-use project on the Greenpoint waterfront, notching two loans totaling $114M in the process. The joint venture plans to deliver three new residential towers with 1,000 units to the neighborhood, including 300 affordable homes. The project includes 20K SF of retail space and a public park along the waterfront.
Bank OZK provided an $81M senior land loan, while InterVest Capital Partners provided a $33M mezzanine loan as well as a structured equity solution for the acquisition and predevelopment costs. JLL’s Christopher Peck, Nicco Lupo, Rob Hinckley, Scott Aiese and Jonathan Faxon arranged the financing. Hunton Andrews Kurth represented the Domain and LMXD partnership.
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The Altmark Group has scored a $96M mortgage to refinance the Motto, a 264-unit apartment building at 2455-2457 Third Ave. in Mott Haven. The five-year fixed-rate loan for the 24-story building came from Morgan Stanley. Cushman & Wakefield’s Brad Domenico, Gideon Gil, Jack Subers and Frank Stanislaski repped the borrower.
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Beitel Group netted a $155M bridge loan from Dwight Mortgage Trust to refinance 261 and 315 Grand Concourse, a 405-unit multifamily development in the Bronx. The project has 122 affordable housing units and was built using the 421-a tax abatement. Landstone Capital Group’s Pinchas Vogel brokered the deal.
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Avdoo nabbed a $47M construction loan for 110 Boerum Place in Cobble Hill, where the developer is planning a new boutique residential building. Valley National Bank provided the debt for the six-story, 65K SF project, which will offer 21 condos and 11K SF of amenities.
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Axonic Capital has provided a $25M loan to the owners of the century-old Hotel Elysée, located at 60 E. 54th St., to renovate the property after it closed its doors earlier this year, Crain’s New York Business reported. The 103-key hotel will go through a roughly 18-month interior renovation that will help it reach five-star quality, owner Hera Hospitality Group said.
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White Oak Real Estate Capital has provided a $51M acquisition loan to Xin Capital for a retail and office assemblage in Times Square, The Real Deal reported. The fully leased, 144K SF Times Square West property at 303 W. 42nd St. and 200 W. 43rd St. has 17K SF of ground-floor retail leased to Chick-fil-A and Dunkin’, plus 127K SF of offices.
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Black Spruce Management and Orbach Affordable Housing Solutions signed a $525.1M deal with Arbor Agency Lending to refinance the American Copper Building, the 761-unit residential building at 616-626 First Ave., PincusCo reported. The deal refinances a $611.5M CMBS loan. Black Spruce and Orbach acquired the property in March 2022 for $837M.
TOP LEASES
Tempus AI has signed for 40K SF at SL Green's 11 Madison Ave. The firm will occupy part of the 17th floor of the 30-story tower on a 10-year lease and joins a tenant roster that includes Sony Music and Pinterest. JLL’s Peter Michailidis repped the tenant, while Newmark’s Brian Waterman, Scott Klau, Eric Harris and Brent Ozarowski repped the landlord.
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Fintech firm Flexible Finance has signed a 41K SF lease at Rockrose’s 300 Park Ave. South, according to a release. The firm is relocating to the top three floors of the 15-story, 200K SF office later this year. The deal brings the 1901–built property to 90% occupied. Cushman & Wakefield's Drew Braver, Matthias Li, Remy Liebersohn, Heather Thomas and Josh Kuriloff represented the landlord, while CBRE’s Ryan Alexander and Jared Isaacson represented the tenant. Flexible Finance is relocating from 33 Irving Place, Commercial Observer reported, citing anonymous sources.
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The Moinian Group has signed three lease renewals and expansions totaling 40K SF at 450-460 Park Ave. South. Media platforms EverWonder Studio and Front Office Sports were repped by CBRE’s Sacha Zarba and Conor Krup in their deals, and privacy-first mobile network Cape was repped by CBRE’s Scott Sloves and Rob Wizenberg in its lease to stay at the 12-story building. The Moinian Group was repped by CBRE’s Gregg Rothkin, Jared London, Hayden Pascal, Taylor Walker and Keegan Schenk.
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Furniture and home décor retailer Design Within Reach has renewed its 40K SF lease at Industry City for another decade. DWR, a subsidiary of MillerKnoll, was founded in 1998. It will remain in its two-floor space in Building 3 on the 35-acre campus. Industry City’s Jim Somoza repped the landlord in-house. Cushman & Wakefield’s Jason Greenstone and Justin Royce repped DWR.
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Flex workspace provider Industrious has signed a lease with Ogden Cap Properties to open a 22K SF location on the Upper West Side at 1900 Broadway, Commercial Observer reported. Industrious will occupy the building’s seventh floor, which was recently subdivided from its original 54K SF floorplate. The landlord was repped by Colliers’ Jessica Verdi and Rachel Kirkham, while Cushman & Wakefield’s Justin Halpern repped Industrious.
TOP SALES
RXR has closed on its purchase of 590 Madison Ave., a 42-story, 1M SF office tower in the Plaza District, for nearly $1.1B. The acquisition is part of RXR’s strategy targeting trophy and Class-A office towers at discounts. The seller was the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, which was represented by Eastdil Secured and Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s Miles Borden, Jason Polevoy, Sean Rosenberg, Ben Nitzani, Paul Galligan and Richard Schwartz. RXR scored financing from Apollo Global Management. Newmark was RXR’s capital adviser on the deal. Elliott Investment Management LP came on as an equity partner for the acquisition.
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A Vornado Realty Trust-led partnership has sold 512 W. 22nd St. for $205M, according to a release. The REIT had a 55% ownership stake in the 11-story, 173K SF building and plans to use the proceeds to repay a $123M mortgage on the property. Vornado takes home a $38M share of the net proceeds, which the REIT expects will result in an $11M gain in its third-quarter earnings report. The REIT had owned the building with The Albanese Organization and The Olayan Group, Commercial Observer reported. The buyer was Raghsa Real Estate, an affiliate of MKF Realty, which landed a $130M loan from JPMorgan for the deal.
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The City University of New York spent $125.6M on six condo units at 569 Lexington Ave., a former DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, Commercial Observer reported. CUNY will use the space, acquired from Hawkins Way Capital, as student housing. The acquisition follows CUNY’s purchase of four floors in the same Midtown East building this spring, meaning that the university now owns floors one through eight, 16 and 17. The school reportedly plans to have 578 dorm rooms in the building.
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Little Rock Construction has acquired a 64K SF ground-floor retail condo at 1600 Flatbush Ave. from Triangle Equities for $41M, Commercial Observer reported. Triangle has owned the unit since 2009. Colliers’ Andrew Jacobs, Jacklene Chesler, Patrick Norris and Philippe Jomphe arranged the deal.
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The Library Hotel Collection at 103 Waverly Place has changed hands for $23M, PincusCo reported. Judith Paul, through the entity Washington Square Hotel LLC, sold the property to WS Hotel Holdings LLC. The property has 55K SF of build space that was divided into a hotel and a restaurant condo unit in 2006 by Daniel Paul, with the Paul family owning both of the units. Both units now belong to the new ownership.
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A seven-story building with a restaurant on the ground floor sold for $23.1M in an off-market deal, Crain’s reported. The SoHo office building at 40 Thompson St. is now owned by boutique real estate firm 7G Group. The seller was British real estate investment firm Epic.
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Luxembourg-based Cofinance Group has acquired a mixed-use building in SoHo for $21M, Crain’s reported. The international real estate investment firm bought the five-story property at 392 W. Broadway on one of the neighborhood’s prime retail corridors from a California-based LLC, 392 Dirty Buildings Holdings. That LLC has owned the 1872-built property since 2022, when it paid $17.5M to acquire it.