This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet: Vornado Signs NYU To $1.6B Lease
New York University has struck a nearly $1.6B deal to master-lease the office building at 770 Broadway near its Greenwich Village campus.
NYU on Monday signed a deal to take over the nearly 1.1M SF of office space at the building, according to a release from building owner Vornado Realty Trust.
NYU made a $935M lease payment to Vornado and has agreed to pay $9.3M annually over the 70-year lease. The university has the option to purchase the leased premises in 2055 and again in 2095 when the master lease expires, and it will assume the existing office leases and related tenant income at 770 Broadway.
Vornado will use the proceeds from the deal to pay off the $700M mortgage tied to the property. Vornado CEO Steve Roth said in November that the two sides had struck a deal. Vornado will retain the 92K SF retail condo leased to Wegmans.
NYU plans to use the building to consolidate faculty and research in a hub focused on disease research and innovation involving artificial intelligence, biotechnology and quantum information sciences, it said in a release.
Existing tenants occupy half the office building, but NYU plans to convert vacant floors to science and technology uses, including laboratories, classrooms and workstations.
TOP LEASES
Aquarian Holdings LP signed a 75K SF lease for the top floors at Olayan Group’s 550 Madison Ave., bringing the property to 96% leased, the New York Post reported. The global holding company will relocate from 40 10th Ave. to the three-level penthouse in the 37-story, 750K SF tower, acquired by Olayan in 2016 for $1.4B. The pink granite building was built in 1984, and Olayan spent more than $300M on renovations after buying it vacant.
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The National Women's Soccer League is moving its headquarters to 21K SF at The Feil Organization’s 551 Fifth Ave., according to a release. The NWSL first moved its headquarters to 292 Madison Ave. from Chicago in 2022 and has since tripled its headcount, with the new lease accommodating the organization's growth. Andrew Wiener, Kevin Driscoll and Henry Korzec repped Feil in-house, while CBRE’s Conor Denihan and Patrick Moroney repped the NWSL.
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Business advisory firm Riveron has signed a 20K SF lease at Marx Realty’s 10 Grand Central office tower, according to a release. The firm is relocating from 461 Fifth Ave. with a 10-year deal. JLL’s Mitchell Konsker, Carlee Palmer, Thomas Swartz and Nicole Danyi repped Marx Realty, while Cushman & Wakefield’s Peter Trivelas repped Riveron.
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Real estate law firm Rose & Rose signed a deal for 14K SF at AmTrust RE’s 250 Broadway, according to a release. The firm will occupy fully built-out spec suites on the 30th and 31st floors of the Lower Manhattan tower. Several other law firms, including Gannon, Rosenfarb & Drossman and Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & De Cicco, are also tenants in the building. CBRE’s Brad Gerla, Michael Rizzo and Alex Benisatto repped the landlord along with AmTrust’s Anne Holker. Rose & Rose was repped by Jacob Wolkenfeld of Norman Bobrow & Co.
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Irish American pub Stout NYC is moving three blocks. The bar is relocating from 133 W. 33rd St. to 16K SF at Justin Management’s 213 W. 35th St., Commercial Observer reported. The new pub is across the street from Marriott’s Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel and plans to open in the fall. It has no plans to move its three other Manhattan locations in the Financial District, near Grand Central Terminal and near Bryant Park. Nomad Group’s William Janetschek and Matthew DeRose arranged the deal on behalf of Justin Management, while the Kaufman Organization’s Michael Kaufman repped Stout NYC.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Yellowstone Real Estate Investments landed a $113M refi for the 697-key former Maxwell hotel at 541 Lexington Ave. in Midtown East, Commercial Observer reported. Yellowstone managed to secure the refinancing without publicly disclosing its plans for the building, which it bought for $140M at a foreclosure auction in October. Loan proceeds, which came from the U.S. arm of Bank Hapoalim, BHI, will be used to fund closing costs and tax reserves. The hotel shuttered during the pandemic when it was owned by Capstone Equities and Highgate Hotels, which paid $183M for the hotel in 2018, The Real Deal reported.
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Goose Property Management scored a $166M construction loan for four multifamily projects in Boerum Hill, according to a release. Scale Lending, the debt arm of Slate Property Group, provided the loan, which retires $100M in previous debt from H.I.G. Realty Partners. Goose is planning a four-building development across 302K SF, The Real Deal reports. With three buildings totaling 99 units apiece and one providing 70 units, the project will likely tap the 485-x tax incentive, which mandates laborers be paid at least $40 an hour for developments with 100 units or more. In addition to the three 11-story buildings and single 12-story building, the development will also have roughly 10K SF of commercial space and 40 parking spaces. Goose acquired the development site for $40M last year after it had already been rezoned from industrial to residential.
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The Durst Organization netted a $70M refi for its 655 Third Ave. office building from Citibank, PincusCo reported. The loan replaces a $60M sum from the same lender for the 380K SF Murray Hill property.
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Haussmann Development nabbed a $40.8M refi from Acres Capital for a 76-unit Crown Heights multifamily property that started leasing this month, Commercial Observer reported. The loan for 827 Sterling Place, which is fully electric and has 23 units designated as affordable housing, replaced a $38.5M mortgage because of the building’s early leasing success. A Cushman & Wakefield team led by Alan Blank, Zach Kraft and Gideon Gil arranged the financing.
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Getir, the fast grocery retailer that acquired FreshDirect in late 2023, this week scored a $70M loan from WhiteHawk Capital Partners for a distribution center in Mott Haven, PincusCo reported. The loan covers the center at 2 St. Anne’s Ave. and two adjacent parcels. This is the first debt that Getir has placed on the leasehold properties, according to PincusCo.
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Ponce Bank originated a $65.3M construction loan for FBL Development for an 86-unit, 65K SF residential development at 21-01 to 21-19 31st St. in the Ditmars Steinway neighborhood of Queens, PincusCo reported. The developer received construction permits in December and closed on the financing April 11, which hit public records April 29. The loan replaces a $12.6M sum from Ponce Bank.
TOP SALES
Nashville-based Ironside Realty acquired 1435 86th St. in Bensonhurst for $10.2M, PincusCo reported. Palestra Properties sold the 21K SF, two-story Class-C medical office building after buying it in December 2017 for $8.2M.
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Sherajul Islam, through an entity called Aryana Holdings Inc, spent $10.5M on a 31-unit residential building in Jamaica, Queens, PincusCo reported. The sellers of the property at 87-67 171st St. were Harjit Singh, Bishan Singh and Malkiat Singh via the entity 171st Street LLC. The LLC bought the property in 2013 for $1.4M.
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SKF Development acquired 2092 Grand Concourse in Fordham Heights for $9.4M, PincusCo reported. Visabe Director of U.S. Operations Salomon Cojab signed for the seller, Crain’s New York Business reported. The property is a single-story, 1940-built retail building and was previously home to a grocery store and laundromat destroyed in a 2023 fire, according to Crain’s.
