This Week’s N.Y. Deal Sheet
This week saw a handful of financing deals for industrial and multifamily construction close, as well as a few sales of development sites that are likely destined to become apartment buildings — even more likely since the passage of a new housing deal.
TOP SALES
ZD Jasper has acquired a development site on the waterfront of the Queens neighborhood Long Island City for $47M, according to a release. The seller of the site at 45-40 Vernon Blvd. was a joint venture of Quadrum Global, Baron Property Group and Simon Development. ZD Jasper plans to develop a mixed-use residential property on the site, which is home to the former Paragon Paint factory and sits on the corners of 46th Avenue and Vernon Boulevard. The site has been approved for a 192K SF development after the previous owners submitted plans for a 202-unit property that was approved by NYC’s Board of Standards and Appeals. JLL’s Brendan Maddigan, Rob Hinckley, Michael Mazzara, Ethan Stanton, Winfield Clifford and Vickram Jambu represented both the buyer and seller in the deal.
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Victor Sigoura’s Legion Investment Group acquired a bankrupt development site in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood for $87M. Legion has plans to build a new property using the foundation in place at the site at 540 W. 21st St., the developer told Bisnow. The previous owner, Casco Development Corp., filed for bankruptcy in August but had planned a 20-story, 171K SF luxury residential and commercial property. Legion also scored a $55.8M loan for the acquisition, provided by Deutsche Bank and arranged by Walker & Dunlop's Aaron Appel, Keith Kurland, Jonathan Schwartz, Adam Schwartz and Sean Bastian.
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SL Green has bought the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board out of its 45% stake in a Midtown Manhattan office property for a total of $106M, Crain’s New York Business reported. Manhattan’s largest office landlord paid $7M cash to CPPIB and took on $99M in assumed debt for the property at 10 E. 53rd St., which is 98% leased. Tenants in the 385K SF building include the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Swarovski North America and fitness club Equinox. CPPIB has been exiting its office investments, selling a 29% stake in 360 Park Ave. back to BXP for just $1, The Real Deal previously reported.
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Affordable housing developer Urban Builders Collaborative has acquired a Long Island City development site for $14M, Crain’s reported. Property records show that the three-parcel corner site, located by Queensbridge Houses, was sold by Alan Hochster. Matt Gross, who is Urban Builders Collaborative’s managing director and partner as well as the executive officer for Lettire Construction Corp., signed on behalf of the buyer.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Lin Zhou’s Sunlight Development nabbed a $92M construction loan from S3 Capital Partners for a ground-up residential condo development in Flushing, Queens, according to a release. Sunlight Development is planning a 127-unit, 17-story condo building at 138-18 Northern Blvd., which will also include 65K SF of community space, 47K SF of retail space and 287 parking spaces, as well as its own cellar and a 30-foot-long rear yard. S3 also previously provided a $28M acquisition loan to Sunlight Development for the site, where demolition and foundation work is already completed.
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SMA Equities notched a $62M construction loan from Bank OZK for a residential project in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood, Commercial Observer reported. The planned 157-unit building at 280 E. Houston St. will benefit from the 421-a tax abatement and has 40 units reserved as affordable housing. SMA Equities acquired the site in October 2022, picking it up for $36.8M, The Real Deal reported. Newmark’s Jordan Roeschlaub, Dustin Stolly and Daniel Fromm arranged the new financing for the project.
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The Bank of Montreal and Argentic Investment Management are providing $117M to refinance the Sunrose Tower, PincusCo reported. The 238-unit multifamily property at 620 W. 153rd St. is owned by the Chetrit family and the Jay Group. The loan replaces a prior $81.6M loan from H.I.G. Capital, as well as a $35.5M gap mortgage note issued in April last year. The new loan is split into $75M from Bank of Montreal and $42M from Argentic, which then sold $20M of its part to Starwood, Commercial Observer reported. Eli Chetrit signed as a borrower, alongside business partners Jacob Aini and Jay Group’s Abraham Kohn.
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Clipper Equities nabbed a $110M construction loan from Be Aviv and BHI, a U.S. division of Bank Hapoalim, Commercial Observer reported. The sum will go toward building a 227-unit apartment property at 2359 Bedford Ave., the site of the previous Sears auto center, as well as to paying off previous loans on the site. Clipper Equities shelled out $90.8M to acquire the Flatbush site from Vornado and Sears in 2022. Leah Paskus and Pinchas Vogel negotiated the deal, while David Kesselman and Ilana Druyan led BHI’s participation and Eyal Epstein originated the loan on Be Aviv’s behalf.
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Bank OZK struck another $62M loan this week on an industrial project from RXR in Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood, The Real Deal reported. The loan for 722 and 730 Court St. is one of many Bank OZK-backed industrial projects nearby, including a $73.8M acquisition loan for RXR and LBA Logistics’ acquisition of a 760K SF site on the Gowanus waterfront in 2021. RXR and LBA also previously worked together in Queens’ Maspeth neighborhood, where the pair collaborated on a 1.1M SF, five-story logistics center.
TOP LEASES
Vanbarton Group has signed two leases totaling 48K SF at 31 Penn Plaza, according to a release. The New York City Police Department took 34K SF across the entire second floor and part of the third on a 20-year term, Commercial Observer reports. The location will serve as the new command center for 260 of the NYPD’s traffic enforcement agents. Food service and facilities company Compass Group also signed at the building, renewing and expanding to 14K SF across the sixth floor for 10 years. Vanbarton recently completed a $25M repositioning at the 18-story building, adding a café, bar, golf simulator and game room. CBRE’s Jeffrey Kilimnick repped the NYPD, according to the release, while Cushman & Wakefield’s Amy Zhen and Bianca Di Mauro represented Compass Group. JLL’s Kyle Young, Matthew Astrachan, Mitchell Konsker and Thomas Swartz represented the landlord.
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Industrious has signed an extension and expansion of its space at Gordon Properties’ 860 Broadway, doubling its total footprint in the building to 28K SF, according to a release. The coworking firm now has two full floors in the 84K SF property, which sits across the street from Union Square. Seth Hecht and Thomas Swartz of JLL repped the landlord, while Justin Halpern, Ed Wartels and Benjamin Bouganim of Cushman & Wakefield repped the tenant.
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WeWork is staying at 77 Sands St. in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood in a smaller space for less rent and a shorter term. It leased 72K SF from landlords RFR and Kushner Cos. at the building in 2015, and it will shrink its space to three floors at the 12-story, 225K SF building, according to a release. The lease assumption was one of five announced in the U.S. on Monday as the beleaguered coworking giant is in the process of trying to shed space and renegotiate leases wile retaining its members.
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The New York City Police Department has renewed its full-building lease at 300 Gold St. in Downtown Brooklyn for five years, Commercial Observer reported. The NYPD will stay in the building, owned by One Liberty Properties, until October 2028 but plans to move to a new location after that. The landlord has to complete repairs at the 52K SF, six-story property, after which the rent will go up from $24.53 per SF to $26 per SF. The NYPD has been a tenant in the building since 1995 and has 203 members working out of the location.
