Something new is about to take off at a former Brooklyn airfield.

Local education nonprofit Runway Green has signed a 60-year lease with the National Park Service at Floyd Bennett Field, which is part of the federally owned Gateway National Recreational Area.

Runway Green plans to build a $60M education ecosystem on 7 acres of Floyd Bennett Field, which was home to New York City’s first municipal airport and a World War II naval air station.

The nonprofit plans to break ground next year on the campus's first phase, a 3-acre urban farm with The Campaign Against Hunger.

Longer-term plans include a public high school, a ropes course and campgrounds, plus career-connected opportunities in fields including clean energy and building decarbonization.

The campus would be built on a small strip of the 1,300 acres of NPS-owned grassland, salt marshes and tidal mudflats that include a marina in addition to the control tower and former terminal.

The project has already received $9.3M in public investment commitments, including $1M from Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, $3.3M from the New York City Council and $2M in federal funding.

“Floyd Bennett Field is an incredible public asset, and this investment with Runway Green is about making sure our young people can experience everything it has to offer,” Reynoso said in a statement.

The campus will offer real-world learning experiences focused on agriculture and environmental stewardship to New York City students, with Runway Green expecting the campus’s reach to serve as many as 50,000 public school students.

TOP LEASES

Related Cos. signed a tenant to what might be the highest-priced office lease in the city. Hedge fund Castle Hook Partners signed a lease for the 52nd and 53rd floors of the under-construction, 53-story 625 Madison Ave. office building, according to a document filed with the city. Related was seeking $400 per SF or more for the top floors in the 680-foot building, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.

General Atlantic and Veritas signed the first leases for a combined 245K SF at the 860K SF building, expected to open in 2029. Castle Hook, which is headquartered at BXP's 767 Fifth Ave., signed a 15-year lease with a 10-year extension option.

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Distyl AI expanded by 15K SF at the Rosen family’s 135 Madison Ave., taking up 30K SF across the entire ninth and 10th floors of the 175K SF property. Other tenants include Courier Health and WeWork. Koeppel Rosen LLC's Max Koeppel represented ownership, and Newmark’s Justin Pollner negotiated for the tenant.

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Capstone Equities, along with partners Rugby Realty and Republic Investment Co., has signed the first tenant at 140 Crosby St. since Capstone took ownership of the property in May. Conduct AI signed a 7K SF lease at the 35K SF property, marking its first permanent U.S. location as it expands internationally. Asking rents in the SoHo building are between $150 and $165 per SF. JLL’s Clark Finney, Alex Riguardi and Dana Goldman represented Capstone in the deal, while Savills’ Max Mond and John Brennan represented the tenant.

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Global Holdings signed a 15-year, 20K SF headquarters expansion with Cerity Partners LLC at 99 Park Ave. The national wealth management and financial advisory firm now occupies a total of 68K SF in the 26-story building. Other tenants in the 600K SF tower include Metropolitan Commercial Bank, Southern Land Co. and Amalgamated Bank. Cushman & Wakefield’s Nicholas Dysenchuk and Rob Lowe represented the tenant. The landlord’s Alexander Radmin, along with JLL’s Paul Glickman, Diana Biasotti, Kristen Morgan and Harrison Potter, represented the landlord.

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Sentinel Capital Partners expanded by 7K SF at SL Green’s One Vanderbilt, bringing the tenant’s total footprint to 35K SF. The skyscraper remains 100% leased. Newmark’s Brian Waterman and David Waterman represented Sentinel, while SL Green was represented in-house.

TOP SALES

Goose Property Management purchased a Park Slope site at 441-467 Prospect Ave. from Arrow Linen Supply Co. for $55M. The two-lot site offers 271K SF of potential zoning floor area for residential development. JLL’s Mike Mazzara, Ethan Stanton and Brendan Maddigan arranged the transaction.

Goose disclosed its takeover in early August from the previous developer, Apex Development, which had rezoned the property and formed plans to build 250 units on the former industrial site. Goose is planning four 10-story, 99-unit buildings on the lot and has agreed to keep 100 apartments as permanently affordable housing. It’s also planning to provide below-market space for a nonprofit and stick to a community benefits agreement previously hashed out by Apex.

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David Burris and a group of investors have acquired 780-782 Lexington Ave. and 136 E. 61st St. for $28.1M. The seller was Robert Siegel and his family, who had owned the properties for more than 50 years. The three adjacent mixed-use properties occupy a 6K SF lot that contains 11 commercial units and eight residential units, but the assemblage offers the potential for 64K SF of future development. The buyers plan to reposition the portfolio’s retail space and hold the properties as a long-term covered-land investment, but there are no plans to redevelop it, according to a release.

Lee & Associates NYC’s Chris Varjan, Peter Braus, James Wacht and George Steffani represented the seller and found the buyer. Burris is principal and co-chairman of Terra Holdings, which owns and operates several real estate service firms including Brown Harris Stevens, but the acquisition is unrelated to Terra.

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A&H Acquisitions has acquired Target’s 230K SF store at the Queens Place shopping center in Elmhurst, located at 88-15 Queens Blvd., for $5M in an all-cash deal, Crain’s New York Business reported. A&H is a retail-focused family firm controlled by the Adjmi family. Developer Forest City Ratner created the three-level commercial condo for Target in 2001. It’s unclear what Target paid for the space at the time. It recently signed a 15-year lease to relocate from Queens Place to 135K SF at the Rego Center mall at 61-35 Junction Blvd. and expects to open in 2028.

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Vaja Group acquired the retail building at 24-29 31st St. in Ditmars Steinway from an entity associated with the Scaturro family for $26.9M, PincusCo reported. The site last changed hands for $6,900 in 1968. The deal closed on Sept. 18, with Charles Scaturro signing on behalf of 2441 Astoria Associates LLC, and Chaim Wiesenfeld signing on behalf of Vaja.

TOP FINANCING DEALS

George Comfort & Sons, along with partners Loeb Partners Realty and Jamestown, refinanced 200 Madison Ave. with a $386M loan from New York Life. The 750K SF, 26-story office’s tenant roster includes architecture practice Spectorgroup, boutique law firm BraunHagey & Borden and Havas Health. The five-year, floating-rate loan, structured with a three-year initial term and two 12-month extension options, will be used to pay off the building’s existing debt and fund ongoing leasing. Estreich & Co.’s Jonathan Estreich, Peter Duncan and Egor Petrov arranged the financing along with Newmark’s Adam Spies, Adam Doneger and Willis Robbins.

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Hudson Bay Capital is lending $85M to InterVest Capital Partners to refinance 300 Lafayette St., a boutique mixed-use office and retail building spanning 82K SF across seven stories. Microsoft occupies the entire 63K SF office component, and Neko Health, New Era and Goldwin occupy the retail space. Newmark’s Jordan Roeschlaub, Nick Scribani, John Caraviello and Ryan Bub arranged the financing on behalf of the borrower.

InterVest originally purchased the building in partnership with Nightingale Properties, but the joint venture defaulted on its loan as Nightingale CEO Elie Schwartz's crowdfunding scandal was exploding into public view. InterVest bought the debt in 2023, dodged foreclosure, jettisoned Nightingale and now has a new mortgage. Schwartz pleaded guilty to fraud last year and is serving a seven-year prison sentence.

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Legion Investment Group and co-developer SMA Equities are borrowing $99M from BDT & MSD Partners and Deutsche Bank to buy an Upper East Side corner assemblage at 201 E. 84th St., according to a release. The firms are planning a 300K SF residential development, and demolition of the existing structures is already underway. A Walker & Dunlop Capital Markets Institutional Advisory team led by Aaron Appel, Dustin Stolly and Sean Bastian advised the buyers on the financing.

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FBL Development and Gold Stone Management scored a $103.6M construction loan from Ponce Bank for a 158-unit development parcel at 245 Duffield St. in Downtown Brooklyn, PincusCo reported. The prior lender was also Ponce Bank, which previously lent $20M on the project.

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TF Cornerstone cashed in on its recently built, 812-unit apartment complex at 2-21 Malt Drive in Long Island City. The Elghanayan-owned development firm refinanced a $418M loan from Wells Fargo with a new $492.7M mortgage from PNC Bank, PincusCo reported.

UPDATE, SEPT. 29, 4:30 P.M. ET: This story has been updated to include Goose Property Management's plans for Arrow Linen's Park Slope site.