Two months into the fourth quarter, it's clear that commercial real estate activity has picked up in New York City as 2020 draws to a close.

TOP LEASES

In the biggest lease of November, Travelers Insurance inked a 133K SF renewal deal at SL Green’s 485 Lexington Ave., according to Colliers’ Manhattan Monthly Snapshot report. The renewal came eight years before the lease was set to expire. The company signed the lease in 2006 for 10 years, and then opted for another early renewal in 2013 for 15 additional years, Crain’s New York Business reported at the time. JLL represented Travelers in the deal in 2013.

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Private Equity company Ardian also penned a renewal this month. The company added to its existing space at Normandy’s 1370 Sixth Ave. and will take up a total of over 43K SF in the space, according to Colliers’ Monthly Snapshot.

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Apple increased its space at Vornado’s 11 Penn Plaza, adding an additional 116K SF across two floors to the 220K SF it took up in a sublease agreement with Macy’s earlier this year. The sublessor will pay $60 per SF for the space for six years under the agreement. Macy’s lease with Vornado will not expire until 2035.

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California-based MBH Architects’ signed a new, 5,150 SF lease for the second floor of Mitsui Fudosan’s 50 Hudson St. in Tribeca, which will be the company’s East Coast headquarters, according to the architecture firm. MBH said it plans to expand its New York and East Coast presence. The space was previously home to Sarle & Co.’s printing company, and the architecture firm’s lease term is for five years.

TOP SALES

Argentina-based developer Raghsa purchased the mixed-use building at One Union Square South from Related for more than $211M, The Real Deal reports. MKF Realty will manage the property for the buyer, and Meridian Capital Group negotiated the deal. The building, which was finished in 1998, contains retailers on the bottom floors, according to Related’s website. The building’s facade includes the iconic Metronome — designed and created by artists Andrew Boyd and Gan Golan — which currently counts down to climate change’s point of no return, just over seven years away. The buyer took out a $120M loan from Wells Fargo to purchase the property, according to PincusCo. Media.

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Brooklyn-based developer Rybak Development bought a mixed-use building at 126 East 86th St. on the Upper East Side from JPMorgan Chase, Crain’s New York Business reports. The buyer plans to build a 20-story, 32-unit residential building. It’s currently home to a Chase bank location. Avison Young brokered the deal for JPMorgan.

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Prologis paid $51M for a radio station at 48-00 Grand Ave. in Maspeth, Queens, from Family Radio, Crain’s New York Business reports. Ben Carlos Thypin and Jay Gilbert of Quantierra negotiated the deal, according to Commercial Observer. The location is near another Prologis warehouse. The building was last sold in 2006 for $5.1M.

TOP FINANCING DEALS

Finkelstein Timberger East Real Estate scored $186.4M in refinancing for 16 of its apartment buildings in the Bronx, Black Bear Capital Partners announced. Black Bear arranged the Fannie Mae debt with a fixed interest rate of 2.98%. The 16 properties, including 1791 Grand Concourse Ave., contain 1,126 units. Black Bear Capital Partners’ Bryan Manz, Emil DePasquale, Phil Bowman and Jack Cohen brokered the debt.

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Two Trees Management secured a $194M loan for its 379-unit apartment building at 300 Ashland Place in Brooklyn, PincusCo. Media reports. Wells Fargo provided the debt. The 35-story property, built in 2016, contains a rooftop terrace and fitness center. Its ground-floor retail space has a 365 by Whole Foods grocery concept and an Apple Store.

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Fortuna Realty Group scored a $112M construction loan for its project at 19 West 38th St. from Goldman Sachs, PincusCo. Media reports. The developer is building a 17-story, 299-room hotel. The site previously housed a five-story residential building. Fortuna has a collection of boutique hotels on the west side of Manhattan that include The Hotel Hayden on West 28th Street, the Hotel Hendricks on Fifth Avenue and Hotel Henri on West 24th Street.