The weather has cooled, but it seems New York City's leasing market is finally heating up.
TOP LEASES
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Zeta Charter Schools signed a lease for 95K SF at Bolivar Development’s 1475 Macombs Road and 1325 Jerome Ave. in the Bronx, Transwestern Real Estate Services announced. Transwestern’s Lindsay Ornstein, Stephen Powers and Thomas Hines represented Zeta. The two spaces will house the charter school Zeta Bronx Mount Eden. Both buildings are under construction.
The Jerome Avenue building, set to be complete by mid-2021, will house prekindergarten through first grade with 20K SF on the lower level and first floor. The Macombs Road building is planned to be completed by 2023 and will house the school’s grades two through eight.
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WeWork is moving its own employees into what it is calling a 100K SF "flagship headquarters" in its first ground-up development at Dock 72, GlobeSt. reports. WeWork staffers will fill two floors of the project at the Brooklyn Navy Yard development, which WeWork partnered with Boston Properties and Rudin Management to build. The building, which spans 675K SF and where WeWork occupies 222K SF, has yet to announce another tenant.
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Amazon’s music streaming platform Amazon Music inked a lease at Rubenstein Partners and Heritage Equity Partners’ 25 Kent Ave. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The tenant will take up 40K of the office and light manufacturing building that is also home to fashion brand Kith. Amazon plans to build out its floors into audio production space.
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Investment firm Cambridge Associates signed a lease for more than 10K SF on the 39th floor of William Kaufman Organization’s 437 Madison Ave., Sage Realty Corp. announced. Cambridge doubled its footprint at the building from its current digs on another floor. Cambridge will occupy one of 437 Madison Ave.’s pre-built office spaces.
Sage’s Michael Lenchner and Jack Brennan, as well as JLL’s Frank Doyle, David Kleiner, Cynthia Wasserberger, Andrew Coe and Georgina Cook brokered the lease for the landlord, while CBRE's Alex Benisatto and Ryan Alexander represented Cambridge Associates.
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After getting too large for its nearby location, nonprofit Getting Out Staying Out inked an 18,500 SF, 10-year lease at Rockfeld Group’s 2283 Third Ave. in East Harlem, Crain’s New York Business reports. Transwestern's Lindsay Ornstein, Stephen Powers, Jake Cinti and Ned Pierrepont negotiated the deal for the landlord, while CBRE’s Reeves McCall, Anthony Manginelli and Ryan Alexander negotiated for GOSO. Asking rent was in the mid-$40s per square foot, Crain’s reports.
TOP SALES
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CW Realty secured a 99-year ground lease for a development site at 26-04 and 26-08 Jackson Ave. in Long Island City for $30M, Traded New York reports. The Jadidian Family sold the ground lease and L2 Capital Advisors’ Jacob Savitt brokered the deal. CW Realty, run by Cheskie Weisz, is a major developer in Brooklyn, and is now crossing Newtown Creek into Queens.
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Traub Capital purchased a manufacturing building on 27-11 49th Ave. in Long Island City for $75M, The Real Deal reports. The buy is a slice of the deal that Traub made to purchase Mana Products, the cosmetics company operating in the building. Traub has also invested in Signature Brands, the parent company for Betty Crocker and Cake Mate, according to its website. The private equity firm is focused on food, beauty and entertainment products.
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Rafael Viñoly Architects paid building owner Sabey Data Center Properties $35.8M for the company's office condo unit in the Verizon Building at 375 Pearl St. in Manhattan, property records show. The architecture firm, which designed 432 Park Ave., signed an over 36K SF, 20-year lease with the building owner in 2018, according to Sabey's website. It is currently headquartered on the 31st floor of the building, the top floor of which also includes an outdoor terrace and has 23-foot ceilings.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
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The joint venture of Turnbridge Equities and Dune Real Estate Partners secured a $105M loan on the team’s Bronx Logistics Center at 980 East 149th St. in Hunts Point in the Bronx, Commercial Observer reports. JPMorgan Chase provided the debt, with Christopher Peck, Peter Rotchford and Kristin Knapp of JLL brokering the deal. The project, set to break ground in 2021, sits on 14.2 acres and will be a last-mile center upon its completion, according to Turnbridge’s website. Turnbridge acquired the property in 2018 and recently brought Dune on board.
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Solow Realty & Development Group scored a $209.3M loan on 501 units across three Lenox Hill apartment buildings, Trepp reports. Walker & Dunlop originated the Freddie Mac debt for the buildings. The development firm, run by Sheldon Solow, is currently building a Billionaires Row condo skyscraper at 7 West 57th St.
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Prime Storage secured a $29.9M in refinancing for its property at 950 University Ave. in Highbridge in the Bronx, PincusCo. Media reports. Benefit Street Partners Realty Trust provided the debt. The storage center has units that range from less than 25 square feet to over 10-feet-by-20-feet, according to its website. The building is one of two Bronx locations for Prime Storage.
CORRECTION, SEPT. 15, 2020 AT 5:55 P.M.: Cambridge Associates signed a lease at William Kaufman Organization’s 437 Madison Ave. A previous version of this article contained the incorrect address. This story has been updated.
