This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet: Ralph Lauren Spends $132M On SoHo Storefronts
Another luxury fashion house has become the owner of its New York City retail space.
Ralph Lauren has shelled out $132M for the retail condo units at 109 Prince St. in SoHo, public records show.
The deal ends a challenge brought by LVMH, which was eyeing the space as it searched for a new location for its Tiffany & Co. outpost nearby at 97 Greene St., Commercial Observer reported.
Ralph Lauren leased the storefront in 2010, but its lease was due to run out next year. That prompted the fashion house to buy the retail condos from investor and art financier Jean-Pierre Lehmann, who bought the five-story property in 1991 for $3M.
The property has live-work artist space in three condo residences on the upper floors and retail condos on three floors that are occupied — and now owned — by Ralph Lauren.
A spokesperson for Ralph Lauren told CO that the deal will preserve the company’s “presence at this iconic location for many years to come.”
Robert Cohen, Peter Whitenack and Adam Spies of Newmark repped Ralph Lauren.
The fashion house is the latest to purchase NYC retail in the past 18 months. Some of last year’s biggest sales included Gucci owner Kering’s $963M purchase of the retail condo at 715-717 Fifth Ave. and Prada’s $848M splurge on three commercial buildings at 720, 724 and 730 Fifth Ave.
TOP SALES
David Werner has sold the upper floors of 300 E. 42nd St. for just over $50M, The Promote reported. Werner flipped the property after acquiring the building earlier this year from Fortress Investment Group. Fortress took control of the building when previous owners Somerset Partners and Meadow Partners handed the keys over in 2023. The new buyers are CSC Real Estate, led by Sal and Alberto Smeke, who plan to convert the 18-story office and retail building into a 135-unit rental apartment property using the 467-m tax abatement. Northwind Group provided a $45M acquisition and predevelopment loan to CSC, brokered by Arrow Real Estate Advisors.
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City Urban Realty bought a vacant, single-story retail building at 61-63 N. Sixth St. in Williamsburg for more than $33M, Commercial Observer reported, citing anonymous sources. Property records show Rehan Perveez as the longtime owner, as well as an entity called 59 North 6th Street, according to CO. City Urban Realty previously provided a $12.7M loan to the property via its lending arm, CUR Funding, in 2018. The property was completed the same year and has 14K SF available, according to LoopNet.
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The co-founder of biotech company Regeneron has spent $32.2M on five commercial units and one residential unit — all condos — at 50 Hudson St. in Tribeca, PincusCo reported. George Yancopoulos, after the purchase from Eric Schlagman, is now the owner of almost all of the building’s condos, Commercial Observer reported. The four-story building has seven condo units in total.
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Cedar Park Capital acquired a Brooklyn multifamily portfolio for $27.4M from seller Black Spruce, according to a release. A total of 71 apartments changed hands, spread across nine contiguous four-story walk-up buildings, plus 13 commercial spaces and one antenna. The price per SF works out to $439, according to Rosewood Realty Group, whose brokers Aaron Jungreis, Ben Khakshoor and Alex Fuchs handled the sale. The properties include 3 and 5 Sutton St., 164 and 166 Kingsland Ave., and 657, 661, 667, 669 and 673 Meeker Ave.
TOP LEASES
Estée Lauder Cos. signed four SoHo retail leases totaling roughly 2K SF at asking rents of $1,100 per SF, Commercial Observer reported. The properties, 120 through 126 Prince St., are owned by Crown Retail, Centurion Realty and Imperium Capital, which teamed up to buy them for $20M in 2021. The space is in addition to stores already owned by the company in the neighborhood, including Le Labo at 233 Elizabeth St. and The Ordinary at 410 W. Broadway. The cosmetics company has more than 20 brands and 100 fragrance lines, and it plans to operate separate boutiques for different brands on Prince Street, including one spot due to open in late summer for its luxury fragrance portfolio. Cushman & Wakefield’s Michael O’Neill and Jason Greenstone repped Estée Lauder, while building ownership had in-house representation.
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Mudrick Capital signed a 27K SF lease at Paramount Group’s 31 W. 52nd St., taking the entire 16th floor for 12 years, sources confirmed to Bisnow. The deal is a relocation and expansion for the investment manager, which had been at Mitsui Fudosan America’s 527 Madison Ave. Asking rents were $92 per SF. JLL’s Frank Doyle, David Kleiner and Andrew Coe repped Paramount Group, while Transwestern’s Patrick Heeg and Thomas Hines repped Mudrick Capital.
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Five Iron Golf signed a 12K SF lease to open a new NYC flagship location at The Parkland Group’s 611 Sixth Ave., according to a release. The golf simulator company plans to open the new space at the 10-story Flatiron Building in 2026. Five Iron is relocating from 138 Fifth Ave., where it first started, for the new space that is more than 50% larger and will allow for 13 simulators. Five Iron now has 34 locations across 15 states and five countries and was repped by CBRE and Compass, Commercial Observer reported. JLL represented the landlord.
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Empire Education Corp. signed a 40K SF renewal at Wolfson Group’s 25 Broadway, Commercial Observer reported. Empire, which owns and operates private, for-profit college Mildred Elley, will stay put in the 22-story building for another 10 years. The property, first built in 1921 for the Cunard Steamship Co., is known as the Cunard Building and has a tenant roster including The City College of New York, Cipriani and Teach for America. The building was 92% occupied between 2022 and 2024, but its $250M CMBS loan hit special servicing last April. Asking rents were $50 per SF. Helmsley Spear's Randy Sherman repped Empire, while the landlord was represented in-house.
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ElevatedNY expanded by 26K SF at Edison Properties’ 1120 Sixth Ave., bringing the coworking space provider’s total footprint in the building to 130K SF across four floors, Commercial Observer reported. ElevatedNY’s new floor will have 18 fully furnished, prebuilt suites for up to 12 people each, with the first move-ins possible in July. Other tenants in the Midtown office, known as the Hippodrome Building, include advertising firm Quantcast and BBC Studios. No brokers were involved in the deal.
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Nonprofit Red Door Community, which provides social and emotional support for families and individuals affected by cancer, inked a 9K SF lease at 114 W. 26th St., according to a release. The nonprofit will occupy the whole fourth floor of the 13-story property, which was first built in 1911 and spans 112K SF. Red Door was represented by Cushman & Wakefield’s Carri Lyon and Jenna Catalon. The landlords, Dean Colin Properties LLC and Jal Colin Properties LLC, were represented by Adams & Co.’s Jeff Buslik and David Levy and Benchmark Properties’ Michael Beyda and Joel Kubie.
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Swap Commerce signed for 6K SF at 107 Greenwich St., the 26-story, 317K SF office building owned by Trinity Church NYC, Bisnow can first report. The three-year deal, which will see Swap Commerce occupy part of the 21st floor, is the global e-commerce platform’s first NYC office. Swap Commerce was repped by Cresa’s Michael McKenna, while ownership was repped by JLL’s John Wheeler, Andrew Coe and Margaux Kelleher.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Hudson Cos. and BRP Cos. scored a $343M construction loan for the second phase of the five-building South Bronx affordable housing development La Central, Commercial Observer reported. The latest building in the 1.1M SF project will include 420 affordable housing units, including 63 supportive units. Hudson Cos. and BRP are leading the development of La Central with affordable housing developer ELH-TKC and housing support services Breaking Ground and Comunilife. The financing came from a range of sources, including tax credits and grants, a subsidy from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and tax-exempt bonds from the New York City Housing Development Corp. JPMorgan Chase provided credit enhancement for the financing, and Red Stone Equity Partners was the tax credit syndicator.
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The Feil Organization signed a $51.5M refi with Goldman Sachs for the office building at 257 Park Ave. S., PincusCo reported. The loan, which closed on April 24, replaces a $50M mortgage from JPMorgan Chase. Tenants in the 21-story art deco building include Pei Architects, apparel designer Paul Smith and developer Beachwold Residential, Commercial Observer previously reported.
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Hilson Management netted a $47.4M refinancing for the office building at 386 Fifth Ave., PincusCo reported. The new lender on the 134K SF Garment District building is Maverick Real Estate Partners. Ownership previously borrowed $50M from Signature Bank in 2016, but the debt was sold to a Blackstone-led venture after the bank’s failure.
