GRUBB FOR SALE? THE DEAL SHEET
| Grubb & Ellis says it’s had“unsolicited inquiries” and is using JMP Securities to “explore strategic alternatives," maybe including a sale or merger. Its stock price remains unchanged at 98 cents. ChairmanC. Michael Kojaian says while the company has made progress restructuring, it can better leverage its platform into an improving market. |
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| Yesterday we spoke to former Grubb & Ellis chairman Tony Thompson (now CEO of Thompson National Properties). In late 2006, he orchestrated the acquisition of Grubb in a reverse mergerby his NNN Realty Advisors. He tells us recent events aren’t surprising. Tony (who says he doesn’t own shares anymore) blamesthe board who he says “never gave management any authority to do anything.” He also points out to us that a year and a half ago Grubb sold $90M in convertible preferred stock and has skipped paying the dividend. “Obviously, the real estate market is tough, but other companies like CB Richard Ellis and Jones Lang LaSalle are doing fine.” |
| Sales Transactions CBRE’s private client group sold a 64-unit multifamily building at 135 Rockwell Ave in Long Branch, NJ for $4.5M. The firm’s Charles Berger repped the seller.Lease Transactions |
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| Movado Group took the time to sign a five-year, 90k SF lease extension at Mack-Cali Centre II, 650 From Rd in Paramus, which serves as the company’s corporate HQ. CresaPartners’ Dennis Gralla and James Scancarella repped the tenant. ***NAI Friedland brokered 76k SF worth of deals, including: Finger Lake School’s 11k SF renewal at 272 N Bedford Rd in Mount Kisco (brokers: Ellen Bendek and Carl Silbergleit; landlord: 272 N Bedford Rd LLC); Dubai Furniture’s 6,800 SF lease at 2249 Central Park Ave in Yonkers (broker: Rick Stassa; landlord: John Bobolakis); Hutter Auction Co’s 6,000 SF lease at 135 Hoyt Ave in Mamaroneck (brokers: Steve Kornspun and Lou Klein; landlord:Westmont Management); and ADA Tire’s 5,000 SF lease at 1165 Leggett Ave in the Bronx (broker: Tony Lembeck; landlord: STI Realty).
*** Fred Alger Management inked a 10-year, 46k SF sublease at 360 Park Avenue. JLL’s Alexander Chudnoff, along with Cushman & Wakefield’s Douglas Dolgoff and Haley Klein, repped the subtenant, while C&W’s Kevin Daly and Clark Finney repped sublandlord Reed Elsevier. *** The Kaufman Org’s Howard Rosenblum brokered four Fashion District leases totaling 40k SF: The Northwest Co’s 12k SF lease at261 Fifth Ave (landlord rep: Centric Real Estate Advisors’ Debra Larsen); Bonobos’ 10k SF loft lease at 45 W 25th St and Fabrique Innovations’ 10k SF showroom lease at 48 W 38th St (landlord rep: Bonafide Estates’ Alan Locker); and Nuance Industries/Java Clothing’s 5,700 SF lease at 212 W 35th St (landlord rep: Kaufman’sBarbara Raskob). *** Another Fashion District building, 1407 Broadway, also saw 39k SF of transactions, including: Poof Clothing’s 10-year, 11k SF lease (tenant reps: JTRE’s Jack Terzi and Sitt Leasing’s Ralph Sitt);DreamWorks Theatrical Animation Live Productions’ three-year, 5,800 SF lease (tenant reps: CresaPartners’ Bob Stella and Ed Wartels); Gilbar Trading’s seven-year, 4,700 SF lease (tenant reps: Benchmark Properties’ Michael Beyda and Joseph Jemal); andSophia Cashmere’s seven-year, 4,000 SF lease (tenant rep: DAK Commercial Realty’s David Kahane). The Kaufman Org’s Grant Greenspan, Michael Heaner, and Sommer Scafidi are the building leasing agents. *** New York Legal Assistance Group inked a 36k SF sublease at 7 Hanover Square, where it will relocate its HQ from 450 W 33rd St. MB Real Estate’s Gere Ricker repped the tenant, while Grubb & Ellis’Joe Harkins and Barry Lewen repped the sublandlord. *** Indasa USA inked a 23k SF lease for flex space at 23 Madison Rdin Fairfield, NJ, relocating from Passaic. Cushman & Wakefield’sStephen Elman and Robert Adams repped the tenant, while American Properties’ Mitch Roman and Jim Correll repped the owner, Richards and Robbins. *** Marc Ecko Enterprises inked a 19k SF lease at 475 Tenth Ave. JLL’s Clayton Kline repped the tenant, while The Kaufman Org’sMichael Heaner repped the landlord. *** Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg inked a 10-year, 18k SF lease at900 Third Ave. Newmark Knight Frank’s Chris Mongeluzo, Moshe Sukenik, and Eric Zemachson repped the tenant, while JLL’sDouglas Neye and David Kleiner repped the landlord along with owner Paramount Group’s in-house rep of Peter Brindley. *** Maser Consulting inked a 8,200 SF renewal at 53 Frontage Rd in Clinton, NJ. Colliers International’s Michael Tesser repped the tenant, while CBRE’s Bob Ryan repped owner Crown Properties. *** JPMorgan Chase Bank is depositing itself at the appropriately named Ten Bank Street in White Plains, where it signed a 6,700 SFlease and will relocate from 123 Main St. (No, the reason they're moving isn't that the address sounds fake.) JLL’s Robert Ageloff andTorey Piccini repped the tenant, while Jeffrey Newman repped owner Malkin Properties in-house. *** Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation leased a 4,200 SF pad site formerly occupied by Blockbuster at Aldrick Plaza in Howell, NJ. Jackson Cross Partners’ Patti Toth repped the tenant, while Levin Management Corp repped the owner. *** Theory is opening a new retail location at 69 Main St in Westport, Conn., where it inked a 10-year, 2,500 SF deal. Fred Posniak repped owner Malkin Properties in-house. *** Crown Art Gallery is opening a second store in Manhattan, taking a2,100 SF space at 421 West Broadway. Sierra Realty Crop’s Peter Levitan and Peter Braus repped both the tenant and landlord. *** A week after arranging the sale of a multi-level retail condo at 1086 Madison Ave to Stanley Lobel, retailer Muska Milano inked a 1,200 SF lease in the space. Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Faith Hope Consolo and Joseph Aquino repped the seller, buyer, and tenant in the transaction. Financing |
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| CBRE's James Gunning, Donna Falzarano, and Michael Shermanarranged an $85M permanent mortgage refinance of a five-asset portfolio within the Harmon Meadow section of the Meadowlands in Secaucus, NJ on behalf of Hartz Mountain Industries entities. PB Capital provided the financing, and the mortgage loan was secured by 828k SF of mixed-use space. The properties are located at 100, 300, 400, 600, and 700 Plaza Drive. James and Donna, along with CBRE’s John Clifford and Keith Huizinga, also secured a $33Mpermanent, long-term acquisition financing for the 175k SF 100 Kimball Dr in Parsippany, NJ. The building is fully leased to Deloitte, and the lender provided a 10-year term with a 5.25% fixed-interest rate. ***Meridian Capital Group arranged $116M in multifamily financing, including: $24.4M for a four-building portfolio totaling 144 units in theUpper East Side, Murray Hill, and East Village (arranged by Avi Weinstock); $21.5M for four-building porfolio totaling 280 units onBarnes and Wallace Aves in the Bronx (arranged by Weinstock andJosh Rhine); $17M and a $3M line of credit for a 269-unit co-op building on E 17th St (arranged by Steve Geller and Nicoletta Pagnotta); and $13.5M for a 110-unit building on Ninth St in Astoria (arranged by Judah Hammer and Scott Assouline).
*** NCB FSB arranged $32M in new financing, including: a $5M first mortgage and $500k line of credit for 875 Tenants Corp, a 122-unit co-op at 875 Fifth Ave (arranged by Mindy Goldstein); a $4.5M line of credit for a 271-unit co-op at 18-15 215th St in Bayside, Queens (arranged by Goldstein); a $3.6M first mortgage and $500k line of credit for Carriage Owners Corp, a 96-unit co-op at 77 South Park Ave in Rockville Centre, Long Island (arranged by Edward Howe III); and a $3M first mortgage and $500k line of credit for a 73-unit co-op at 1125 Park Ave (arranged by Howe). *** GCP Capital arranged nearly $14M worth of financing, including:$4.5M for a three-story commercial building with 20 units on Box Stand $3.6M for a 42-unit apartment building on 88th St, both in Brooklyn (arranged by Paul Greenbaum); $2.8M for a 14k SF retail building in Rego Park, Queens (arranged by Adam Brostovski); and$2.6M for 16 unsold condo units on W 100th St (arranged byMatthew Classi). *** Manhattan House received Fannie Mae approval, and MetLife Bank and Gibraltar Private Bank have pre-approved the entire condominium and will now provide conventional and jumbo mortgages to qualified borrowers throughout the building. O’Connor Capital Partners is the owner of the historical building at 200 E 66th St. Corcoran Sunshine is the marketing and sales agent. Construction & Development The Children’s Museum of the Arts is moving to Hudson Square, and will break ground on a new 10k SF space at 103 Charlton Stnext month. The new facility, designed by Work AC’s Dan Wood andAmale Andraos, triples CMA’s current space and will enable the museum to expand its instructional offerings. It will feature a gallery and new media lab upon its Fall ’11 completion. Executive Moves Scott Vinett joined JLL as SVP, focusing on tenant rep and some landlord rep. He was previously with Cushman & Wakefield and is aUMASS grad. *** Linda Hill joined JLL as VP of its industrial services group, based in the company’s Iselin, NJ office. She was previously with Coldwell Banker Commercial. *** Thomas Walsh joined JLL as VP in the Americas capital markets practice, responsible for directing the underwriting and marketing of investment property sales in the suburban markets outside of NYC. He’s based in the Parsippany, NJ office. He was previously a senior financial analyst for a major brokerage firm, and held a position atPrudential Real Estate Investors. He’s a UMASS and Fairleigh Dickinson grad. *** Dino Mattessich joined Cassidy Turley as VP of office leasing and sales in the firm’s Teaneck, NJ office, concentrating on the Bergenand Hudson County markets. He was previously with JLL, and held a position at CBRE. He’s a Seton Hall grad. *** Adam Hess joined TerraCRG as partner and SVP of investment sales, responsible for growing the firm’s investment building sales division and increase its market share in Brooklyn. He was previously with Massey Knakal and is a University of Rochesterand Cardozo School of Law grad. *** Cushman & Wakefield promoted Josh Cohen to associate director in its Morristown, NJ office. He’s been with the firm since ’07, and specializes in office leasing, representing major corporate users and select agency leasing assignments. He’s a UMASS grad. *** Stribling & Associates promoted Pamela D’Arc to EVP. She’s been with the firm for 19 years, and works with high-profile entertainment and finance clientele. She’s a Sarah Lawrence grad. *** T. Weiss Realty Corp promoted Jennifer Lynch to director of leasing and marketing. She’s been with the firm for three years, and recently graduated from NYU’s Schack Institute. She’s also aLehigh grad. *** Skanska USA promoted Sean Szatkowski to VP of operations andJustin Post to SVP. Sean will be responsible for supporting and assisting project teams on various job sites throughout the Tri-State, and Justin will be responsible for client relations and new biz opportunities in the Metro NY area. Sean is a Rutgers grad, while Justin graduated from the University of Delaware. |
