GOOD NEWS FOR SHOE LOVERS
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| "The World's Largest Store" is about to get a bit larger: Macy's announced it's investing $400M in capital improvements at its Herald Square flagship over the next four years. Among the upgrades: a100k SF expansion of the store’s selling space (to 1.2M SF); a new hall of luxury brands with two- and three-level shops; a 39k SFwoman’s shoe department (that’s as many as 300,000 pairs); expansion of men’s merchandise to 200k SF; a restoration of the store exterior, including the reopening of the ornate Memorial Entrance on 34th Street; and preservation of 42 of the 43 historic wooden escalators. Work begins in spring and will be done in phases so that the store remains open and operating. The team:STUDIO V Architecture, Highland Associates, Kevin Kennon Architects, and Charles Sparks + Co. | ||
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| SALES Urstadt Biddle Properties purchased the 63k SF Fairfield Centreshopping center in Fairfield, Conn. for $17M. The center is 100% leased to Marshall’s, CVS, and Office Max.*** Massey Knakal sold three buildings: a 40-unit walk-up apartment building at 712 W 176th St for $5.3M cash (broker: Robert Shapiro); a development site offering close to 94k buildable SF betweenFranklin and Classon avenues, Crown Heights for $4.5M cash(brokers: Michael Amirkhanian and Jeffrey Shalom); and a 3,800 SF townhouse at 131 E 38th St for $2.8M cash (brokers: John Ciraulo and Michael Azarian). *** | ||
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| RURU & Associates purchased a six-story, mixed-use corner building with 25 apartments and three stores at 68-70 Second Ave in Greenwich Village from Bar None for $8.7M. Eastern Consolidated’sRoberto Ortiz repped the seller and procured the buyer.***Marcus & Millichap sold a six-unit apartment building at 3080 37th St, Astoria for $1.2M. The firm’s Matthew Fotis and Lazarus Apostolidis repped the seller, a private investor, and procured the buyer. LEASES | ||
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| WestMed Medical Group leased 28k SF of medical office space at171 Huguenot Ave, New Rochelle. CBRE’s Frank Tomasulorepped the tenant, while CBRE’s William Cuddy Jr. and Budd Wiesenberg repped owner Silwis.*** e-Dialog, a unit of eBay, is doubling its occupancy at 1350 Broadwayto 25k SF. Newmark Knight Frank’s Dan Katcher and Eric Cagnerrepped the tenant, while NKF’s Robert Silver and Jonathan Fanuzzirepped owner W&H Properties. *** Two non-profits signed deals at Feil Org-owned buildings: The Roosevelt Institute’s 12-year, 10k SF lease at 570 Lexington Aveand Wounded Warrior Project’s 10-year, 9,400 SF lease at 7 Penn Plaza. Cassidy Turley’s Robair Reichenstein, David Lebenstein,Debra Wollens, and Edward Kent repped the tenant (along withDavid Lisowski for TRI and Chris Soucie for WWP), while owner was repped in-house by Brian Feil for TRI and David Turino for WWP. *** Belstaff USA inked an 18k SF lease at 681 Fifth Ave. Cushman & Wakefield’s Bruce Mosler, Arthur Mirante, Cynthia Foster, Mark Mandell, Ethan Silverstein, and Ashlea Aaron repped ownerMetropole Realty Advisors. *** UBI FRANCE is relocating to 13k SF for 10 years at 1700 Broadway. CBRE’s Snezana Anderson and Ross Zimbalist repped the tenant. *** Red Apple Supermarket opened at 218 Myrtle Ave, Downtown Brooklyn, the first new full-service grocery to open in the neighborhood for many years. The new store utilized the remaining10k SF of retail space in The Andrea, a 95-unit rental and anchor tenant that Red Apple Group chairman John Catsimatidis (also owner of Gristedes) built and opened in ’10. *** Ace Hardware signed a 8,100 SF lease at 312-316 First Ave, in Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town. The store, which will open in early ’12, is the third Ace location of H. Brickman & Sons. Newmark Knight Frank’s Allen Gurevich repped the tenant, while Rose Associates’ Bruce Spiegel and Bill Bergman repped the owner. *** Carlos M. Velazquez & Associates signed a 10-year, 4,000 SFlease at 551 Madison Ave. Winoker Realty’s Barbara Eddingtonand Jerry Suchman repped the tenant, while Cushman & Wakefield’s Owen Hane repped the owner. *** FircoSoft inked a six-year, 3,800 SF lease at 101 Fifth Ave. UGL Services’ David Starr and Giorgio Versea repped the tenant, while Murray Hill Properties’ Esther Zar and Ryan Nizolek repped ownerEretz Group. FINANCING Time Equities’ Stuart Bruck arranged nearly $59M in deals, including: a $25M credit line provided by a major financial institution that was structured with a $10M unsecured portion with the balance of the facility to be used for future acquisitions; a $5.5M loan secured by a 120k SF industrial building on Austell Place, Long Island City; a $5.3M first mortgage secured by a six-story, 120-unit apartment building on Van Kleeck Street, Elmhurst; and a $4.4M mortgage secured by a five-story, 36-unit apartment building in Astoria. *** Meridian Capital Group arranged over $46M in new mortgage financing, including: $25M for a 21-story co-op property on the Lower East Side (arranged by Avi Weinstock); $8M for a 2,800 SF retail condo on Broadway in SoHo (arranged by Cary Pollack); $4.7M for a 10-unit, six-story multifamily building on East 14th Street (arranged by Carol Shelby and Dani Sabesan); and $3.6M for a 13-unit, four-story multifamily building on Keap Street, Brooklyn (arranged byMichael Kesselman). *** Hudson Realty Capital funded a $7.5M bridge loan involving a 31k SF multifamily property in Brooklyn, which comprises four contiguous buildings with 32 apartments. *** Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp’s Christopher Marks arranged $4Mfor a mixed-use building at 331-345 Fordham Rd, the Bronx. It’s a 10-year, 6%, fixed-rate loan with a 10-year amortization schedule. CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT The largest private rezoning planned for the Bronx in decades received final approval in the Urban Land Use Review Process, unanimously approved by the NYC Planning Commission and approved by the NYC Council 43-1. The rezoning is located alongWest Farms Road overlooking the Sheridan Expressway in the neighborhoods of Crotona Park East and West Farms, and theSignature Urban Properties-proposed design includes 1,325 unitsof houses (at least 663 subsidized), 46k SF of retail, and will create 412 permanent jobs in the area. The plan also features two landscaped public spaces, a children’s playground, and a proposed540-seat elementary school. The majority of the project’s capital is being provided by GTIS Partners. *** | ||
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| Equity Residential unveiled Ten23, a luxury Gerner, Kronick & Valcarcel-designed rental building at 500 W 23rd St. The 13-story, 111-unit building is the second ground-up development undertaken by Equity Residential in NYC and offers studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes.BUSINESS Lee & Associates established its first office in New York, Lee & Associates NYC, through a merger with Sierra Realty Corp. It will be headed by president & CEO Jim Wacht, EVP Peter Braus, and COOJoel Herskowirtz and will include acquisition and ownership of investment properties, management of residential and commercial properties, construction management services, and tenant and landlord brokerage services. EXECUTIVE MOVES Gregg Weisser joined The Moinian Group as executive managing director and director of leasing, responsible for coordinating all commercial and retail leasing efforts within the firm’s 20 assets in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Chicago. For the past 20 years, he worked with JP Morgan Chase and held a position with Cross & Brown Co. He’s a University of Denver and Corenet grad. *** Arthur Bocchi joined Newmark Knight Frank as senior managing director, focusing on property agency and tenant requirements. He was previously with Paramount Group and held positions atCushman & Wakefield and Wm. A. White & Sons. *** Jose Alvarez joined Cassidy Turley as executive managing director in the capital markets group and will head the firm’s institutional hotel sales and financing group. He previously held positions at JLL,Secured Capital, and Trammell Crow. *** Jonathan Bernstein joined Massey Knakal Capital Services as director, focusing on the East Village, Greenwich Village, and NoHo neighborhoods. He was previously with Smartfish Technologies,and held positions at Anglo American Union, Quantum Licensing,Mirus Capital Advisors, and Lonsdale London. He’s a Hult International Business School and Northeastern grad. |
