This Week’s N.Y. Deal Sheet: Mizuho Takes 151K SF On Sixth Avenue
Mizuho Americas, the U.S. arm of Japanese bank Mizuho Financial Group, has signed a deal for 151K SF in RXR’s 1285 Sixth Ave., according to a report from Colliers.
The investment firm's sublease in the 39-story office building, a block away from the Museum of Modern Art, was the largest new deal struck for Manhattan office space in February.
Mizuho is tacking on two floors in the property to its current 411K headquarters at 1271 Sixth Ave, Commercial Observer reported.
The deal comes just a few months after Scott Rechler’s firm scored a blockbuster deal with law firm Ropes & Gray, which relocated to the 1.8M SF office tower at 1285 Sixth Ave. in a November deal that could span 535K SF.
TOP LEASES
Newmark signed a 144K SF renewal and expansion at SL Green’s 125 Park Ave. for a 15-year term. The lease brings the brokerage’s total footprint in the building to 184K SF and 125 Park to more than 99% leased, according to the landlord, which is currently finalizing the design of a new lobby and restoring the building’s entrance to its original design. Newmark’s Jason Perla, Brian Waterman, David Waterman and Matthew Shreiner repped the tenant in-house.
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Law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell signed a 61K SF lease with RXR and Walton Street Capital at 237 Park Ave., according to Colliers’ February report. The law firm’s plans for the space are unclear, but it has an existing 700K SF office a block away at 450 Lexington Ave., Commercial Observer reported.
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Mining company Glencore signed a 45K SF lease at Vornado’s 90 Park Ave., according to Colliers. The tenant, which produces and markets thermal coal for industrial and energy customers, has 60K SF two blocks over at 330 Madison Ave., Commercial Observer reported. That building is owned by Munich Re.
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Intellectual property and technology law firm Knobbe Martens signed a sublease deal for 27K SF at Invesco Real Estate’s 1745 Broadway, Commercial Observer reported. Knobbe Martens struck the deal with Penguin Random House, which has around 604K SF in the Midtown Manhattan office tower. The sublease runs until June 2033 and had asking rents of $49 per SF. David Berke and Scott Gutnick of Newmark repped Knobbe Martens, while Adam Ardise, Troy Elias, Stephen Bellwood, Lei-Lani Keelan and Richard Bernstein of Cushman & Wakefield repped Penguin Random House.
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Tenants signed a total of 31K SF at 600 Lexington Ave., according to a release. The 36-story, 300K SF building in the Plaza District is owned by an affiliate of W.R. Berkley Corp., according to property records. Financial services company Garnet Credit Management signed a 9K SF lease and was repped by Newmark’s Aaron Winston, Eric Zemachson, Neil Goldmacher and Chris Mongeluzo. Investment adviser MKP Capital Management signed for 9K SF and was repped by Savills’ John A. Mambrino, Patton Mooney and Michael Bertini. Financial services firm Managed Fund Association signed for 9K SF and was repped by Transwestern’s Patrick Heeg and Chase Gordon. An unnamed financial services firm also signed a 5K SF lease.
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Luxury gym chain Tmpl signed a 26K SF lease at Sage Realty’s 747 Third Ave., Commercial Observer reported. The direct lease is for 20 years with the option to extend for another 10, and it was brokered by Norman Bobrow & Co.’s Robert McCormick. The 39-story tower has 450K SF of office space and is leased to office tenants including real estate company Helmsley Spear, construction firm Alexander Wolf & Son and law firm Lazare Potter Giacovas & Moyle, Commercial Observer previously reported.
TOP SALES
Empire Capital Holdings has agreed to buy 229 W. 36th St. and 256 W. 38th St. for less than $50M, representing a significant loss for the sellers in a short sale, Crain’s New York Business reported. The two buildings last sold in 2017 for a total of $157M, representing a 68% loss. WeWork used to occupy 229 W. 36th St., a 1921-built Class A office spanning 151K SF, according to Lee & Associates. Meanwhile 256 W. 38th St. is a Class B, 117K SF office building from 1924, according to Lee & Associates. The sale means that owner Investcorp's lenders agreed to let go of the two office buildings for less than the outstanding amount on the mortgage, per Crain’s. CBRE’s Doug Middleton and Jack Stillwagon are handling the sale.
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Wells Fargo acquired a 12-story building at 22 W. 38th St. at auction with just a $50K bid, Crain’s reported. Wells Fargo had been the lender on the Midtown South office building, which had a $41M mortgage, and is reportedly looking to sell the building after getting it appraised to a value of $22M in October.
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AllianceBernstein took ownership of more than two dozen office condominium units across the street from the United Nations headquarters, Bisnow first reported. Private equity giant The Carlyle Group executed a deed transfer for the 29 office condos at 866 United Nations Plaza on the East Side of Manhattan, according to public documents dated Feb. 18. A separate AllianceBernstein affiliate holds a mortgage tied to the properties that is valued at $160M.
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Chelsea-based development firm Wildflower has acquired a 174K SF lot at 28-10 Whitestone Expressway for $35.8M, public records show. The seller was The New York Times Co., which operates an adjacent printing plant. The Times leased the site to Wildflower’s Adam Gordon three years ago to start developing a warehouse there, Crain’s reported.
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Spear Street Capital acquired 165 Mercer St., a six-story landmarked office and retail building in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, for $40M, Commercial Observer reported. The seller was an entity called 165 Mercer Property Owner owned by the Batt family. The building was a parking garage until just a few years ago, with the owners adding an extra floor when they converted it — much to the chagrin of the building’s neighbors, New York Yimby previously reported.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
The Jay Group scored a $115M construction takeout loan from Apollo Global Management to complete 401 W. 207th St., Commercial Observer reported. The building will be a 273-unit, 293K SF mixed-use residential building in Inwood, the neighborhood at the northernmost tip of Manhattan. At least one quarter of the units will be reserved as affordable housing. The Jay Group previously obtained a $92M construction loan from BHI in September 2023 and started by razing the Speedway gas station that had been on the site. Construction is expected to wrap up this year. Henry Bodek of Galaxy Capital brokered the deal for the new loan on the 18-story building.
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Naftali Group secured a $67.5M construction loan from First Citizens Bank for a 19-story condo project at 307 Third Ave. in Manhattan’s Kip’s Bay neighborhood, PincusCo reported. The project is expected to yield 69 units upon completion. Regnum Partners also loaned $6M to the fee owner in June 2022 for the project. The project will have ground-floor retail space, The Real Deal reported.
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A planned storage facility in Hell’s Kitchen nabbed a $40.8M construction loan from Wells Fargo, PincusCo reported. InSite Property Group signed for the loan at 609 W. 46th St., where it plans to build a 107K SF property. InSite has owned the property for the past two years after buying it from the Madanes family for $25.5M, according to Traded.
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Aurora Capital Associates signed a deal allowing it to restructure and extend a $200M CMBS loan tied to 568 Broadway, a 355K SF office building in SoHo, Commercial Observer reported. Aurora co-owns the 12-story building, which was 93% leased in 2022 but was down to 50% leased by the first half of 2024, with Allied Partners, Midtown Equities and A&H Acquisitions. The loan was placed in special servicing in August and had a maturity date of October, having previously received two extensions on its original October 2022 maturity date. The borrowers defaulted in November 2024. Walker & Dunlop’s Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Keith Kurland, Adam Schwartz and Jordan Casella restructured the deal.
