This Week’s N.Y. Deal Sheet
It was another week of notable leasing activity, with a huge renewal in Chelsea and a relocation and expansion at 9 West 57th St. leading the charge.
TOP LEASES
Luxury fashion house Ralph Lauren renewed its 250K SF lease at RXR’s 601 West 26th St., known as the Starrett-Lehigh Building, the New York Post reported. Other tenants in the 2.3M SF building, which is 70% leased, include OXO and Johnson & Johnson. Ralph Lauren first moved its North American business operations to the property in 2017. Asking rents in the building are between $60 and $79 per SF. Eric Deutsch, Ken Meyerson, Ariel Ball, Elliot Bok and Jared Freede of CBRE repped the tenant, and RXR’s Denise Rodriguez repped the landlord.
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Davidson Kempner Capital Management is moving into almost 100K SF at the Soloviev Group's 9 West 57th St., The Real Deal reports. The global investment firm is expanding and relocating from its 75K SF spread at Tishman Speyer's 520 Madison Ave. to occupy the 24th, 28th and 29th floors of 9 West 57th St. Asking rents were $130 per SF for the 24th floor and $180 per SF for the two higher floors. The 1.6M SF, 50-story office tower reached 90% leased this summer when it signed three leases totaling 65K SF. Davidson Kempner reportedly nabbed the space from under the nose of law firm King & Spalding. CBRE's Ben Friedland and Chris Corrinet repped Davidson Kempner, while a CBRE team of Howard Fiddle and Robert Stillman repped the landlord.
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Investment firm Garnett Station Partners is relocating from 853 Broadway to SL Green’s 450 Park Ave., Commercial Observer reported. Garnett Station is taking 25K SF, covering the whole 24th and 25th floors as well as part of the 27th floor in the 33-story office tower, for more than a decade. David Falk and Jason Greenstein of Newmark represented Garnett Station, while SL Green’s own Howard Tenenbaum and Gary Rosen brokered the deal for the landlord in-house. Asking rents were $160 per SF in the property, which SL Green purchased last year for $445M.
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Musical instrument seller and restorer Rare Violins of New York has signed for 11K SF at TF Cornerstone’s 152 West 57th St., Commercial Observer reported. The 15-year lease will see the company double in size from its 6K SF location at 37 West 57th St. Rare Violins joins a tenant roster that includes Seabury Capital and Melius Research. Asking rents in the 60-story building, which includes amenities like an exclusive roof terrace, a conference center and a health center, were $105 per SF. Nathan Kropp of Newmark represented the tenant, while Newmark’s Stephen Gordon and Matthew Leon repped the landlord.
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Four tenants signed leases totaling 25K SF at 575 Madison Ave., a 25-story Midtown East office tower owned by Steinberg & Pokoik, according to a release. Alternative asset manager Corbin Capital Management signed the largest of the leases, relocating from 590 Madison Ave. to 11K SF in the property. Affordable and workforce housing firm Standard Property Co. signed for 7K SF on part of the eighth floor, professional services provider the Garnett Group signed for 4K SF, and real estate family office DGL1 signed for 3K SF. The landlord was represented by a CBRE team of David Hollander, Gregg Rothkin, Brad Auerbach, Justin Greenstone and William Hooks in all the transactions. CBRE’s Ben Friedland, Taylor Scheinman and Gary Davies repped Corbin Capital Management, JLL’s Randy Abend and Carlee Palmer repped Standard Property, and Newmark’s Brian Goldman and Doug Levine repped both the Garnett Group and DGL1.
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The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has signed for 18K SF at Jenel Management’s mixed-use skyscraper in Downtown Brooklyn, The Paxton, Commercial Observer reported. The 43-story property at 532 Fulton St. features 372 apartments and 33K SF of retail space in addition to offices. The DOH will join the General Services Administration, which has 54K SF in the building. The city will pay $866K SF for the first through sixth years of the 21-year lease, $956K for the seventh through 11th years, and $1M to $1.1M for the remaining decade. Construction at the building finished in June, according to New York YIMBY.
TOP SALES
GO-RE Partners has acquired 69 East 125th St., a mixed-use property in Harlem, for $28.2M, according to a release. The property, which has 75 residential units and two commercial units, is spread between one 12-story building and another six-story property and has a 421-a tax abatement until 2043. An Ariel Property Advisors team repped both GO-RE Partners and the seller, Greystone Development.
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Developer Ramirez & Co. has bought a vacant Midtown office tower for $19.5M and plans to reposition it, according to a release. The 17K SF property spans seven floors and was used as a showroom and office headquarters for a tenant after a 2006 gut renovation, but it has an additional 19K SF of unused air rights. Berkshire Hathaway’s Jeff Berman repped Ramirez & Co., while Avison Young’s James Nelson, Eric Karmitz, Brent Glodowski and Alexandra Marolda repped seller Inmoprisa USA. The property was reportedly sought by Harry Macklowe, who had hoped to pick it up at a discount, The Real Deal reported.
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The New York City School Construction Authority has bought a 41K SF industrial property in Richmond Hill, Queens, for $18M, according to a release. The properties, 120-08 Jamaica Ave., 120-30 Jamaica Ave. and 87-14 121st St., were home to Rubies Costume Co. for more than five decades, but the NYC SCA is planning to build an education facility on the 33K SF parcel that spans an entire city block. The NYC SCA was repped by Savills’ Richard Eaddy, Joseph Byrnes and Ira Schuman, while Compass’ Adelaide Polsinelli and Michael Cardillo repped the seller.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Slate Property Group’s lending arm, Scale, has agreed to lend $142M for the final stages of construction on a 24-story apartment property in Jamaica, Queens, according to a release. The floating-rate loan will be used to fund construction — due to wrap next summer — as well as the lease-up and stabilization of the 521-unit building at 147-35 95th Ave. The 30-month loan comes with two six-month extension options for the borrower, Joel Zupnick through Sutphin Boulevard Equities LLC. It was brokered by SHB Group’s Steve Hersko. The project will feature apartments from studios to two-bedroom units, building amenities including a children’s playroom, business center and a gym, and is eligible and on track to secure a 421-a tax abatement.
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Bank OZK has agreed to lend $112.5M to EJS Group for the construction of a residential condo building with ground-floor retail space on the Upper East Side, according to a release. Construction recently topped out on the property, which will feature 36 residential units and is expected to launch sales next year. The property, 200 East 75th St., sits beside El Ad Group’s 1299 Third Ave. development, also under construction, in a deal that allowed both El Ad and EJS to avoid rezoning by both building around a five-story walk-up building that sits between them, Gothamist and The Real Deal reported.
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A Long Island-based assisted living community has scored a $29M financing deal, according to a release. The 101-unit, 136-bed facility known as Whisper Woods, located at 71 St. Johnland Road in Smithtown, Suffolk County, was built in 2018. The loan came from Sculptor Real Estate, the real estate business of Sculptor Capital Management, and was arranged by a JLL team that included Joel Mendes, Ted Flagg and Stephen Van Leer.
