LAM LAM CRASHES BISNOW PARTY
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| Meanwhile in Dallas, Mavs forward Lamar Odom was at the swanky Ocean Prime in Uptown while we were hosting our first DFW 35 Under 35 fete last night. He obviously knows celebrities when he sees ‘em and wanted to be around some of DFW’s biggest real estate stars. If we had more time, we’d have asked the 6-foot-10 reigning Sixth Man of the Year his opinion on CMBS (Chances of Making Basketball Shots). While we didn’t necessarily rub shoulders (he’s far too tall), DFW 35 recipient Holmes Firm attorney Sarah Hicks aided us in approaching the Khloe & Lamar reality show star during dinner. Look for Sarah & Lamar coming to Bravo this fall. |
| SALES Mack-Cali and Winthrop Realty Trust acquired a senior mezz loan position in the capital stack of a 1.7M SF, seven-building Class-A portfolio in Stamford, Conn. for $40M. The loan has a face value of $50M and is secured by the office and residential portfolio.*** |
| Stonehenge Partners purchased the 57k SF, 64-unit mixed-use residential building at 364 W 18th St from Fortuna Realty Group for $33.8M. Eastern Consolidated’s Azita Aghravi, Brian Ezratty, and Paul Nigido brokered the deal. The new owner plans to rename the building Stonehenge 18, launch capital improvements, and reposition its eight-store retail component.*** A Manhattan-based investor purchased 140-144 W 28th St, a 7,500 SF parcel being used as a parking lot, from West 28th Street Partners for $20.5M. Marcus & Millichap’s Barbara Dansker and Shlomo Manne brokered the deal. *** Ascent Pharmaceuticals acquired a 250k SF facility at 550 South Research Pl, Central Islip, Long Island from Creativewear for $14.5M. (It received nearly $5.6M in state and local incentives.) The buyer plans $20M in infrastructure upgrades and manufacturing additions. It intends to stay at its three current locations in Hauppauge (120k SF) while growing in CI. Newmark Knight Frank’s Ralph Perna and Richard Perna repped the buyer, while Griner-Maltz’s Tom Attivissimo repped the seller. *** The Lebanese American University purchased a 30k SF office condo at 211 E 46th St. Rudder Property Group’s Michael Rudder repped the seller, Cammeby’s International, which converted the building to condos in 2008 with Extell Development. *** Massey Knakal brokered the sale of two properties: a 8,600 SF mixed-use building at 37 Crosby St to Icon Realty Management for $4.4M cash (broker: Robert Burton; seller: Bob Kahn); and a 6,900 SF multifamily building at 211 Taaffe Pl, Brooklyn for $1.3M cash (brokers: Michael Amirkhanian and Kenneth Freeman). *** Computer Add Ons purchased the 15k SF 86-90 Denton Ave, New Hyde Park, Long Island from Fischer Real Estate for $1.4M. Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates’ Gary Mayzlin brokered the deal. *** CPEX’s Scott Burk and Andre Sigourney brokered the sale of the mixed-use, 5,700 SF 200 Columbia St, Brooklyn for $1.1M cash. LEASES |
| Grais & Ellsworth inked a 42k SF sublease at 1211 Avenue of the Americas. UGL Services’ Gregg Espach and Douglas Levine repped the tenant, while Newmark Knight Frank’s Mark Weiss,Moshe Sukenik, Erica Rubinstein, and Corey Borg repped the sublandlord.*** 463 Seventh Ave saw four deals: Respekt-Wear Apparel Group’s five-year, 4,300 SF lease, Andrews Thirty Fifth Street Coffee Shop’s 10-year, 5,200 SF renewal; Item House Incorporated’s three-year, 3,200 SF renewal; and Ellerin Corp’s one-year, 1,100 SF renewal. Adams & Co’s David Levy repped the tenants and landlord The Arsenal Company. *** Stamford Health Integrated Practices inked a 9,000 SF lease at 1111 Summer St, Stamford, Conn. Colliers International’s Tim Rorick repped the tenant; the building landlord is Maiden Lane Co. Also in Stamford, Tod’s Point Capital renewed its 4,100 SF lease at 100 First Stamford Pl. Cushman & Wakefield’s Stephen Baker repped the tenant, while Jeffrey Newman, Kimberly Zaccagnino, and Tara Long repped owner Malkin Properties in-house. *** Men’s Wearhouse signed a long-term , 9,200 SF lease at Triangle Junction Shopping Center in Flatbush. Sholom & Zuckerbrot’s Doug Weinstein repped the tenant, while Botsaris Realty Group’s Peter Botsaris repped the owner. Another menswear lease: Angelo Galasso inked a 4,700 SF lease at The Plaza’s Edwardian Room. Crown Retail Services’ Richard Chera and Jordan Barker repped the tenant, while Kristin Franzese repped owner Plaza Hotel-Elad Group in-house. *** Egon Zehnder International signed a 14k SF lease at 485 Madison Ave. Glen Equities’ Alan Schwartz and Neil Shwartz repped the tenant, while Dennis Brady and Fran Delgorio repped owner Jack Resnick & Sons in-house. *** Lincoln National Life Insurance Co signed an 11k SF lease at Melville Corporate Center I, aka 105 Maxess Rd, Melville, Long Island. Corporate National Realty’s Neal Marchesano repped the tenant, while Craig Weiss repped owner T. Weiss Realty in-house. Another life insurance lease: AFLAC inked a 7,300 SF lease at 100 Wall St. UGL Services’ Yarden Drimmer repped the tenant, while JLL’s Mitch Konsker, Scott Cahaly, and Brian Reiver repped the landlord. *** Swedish lifestyle and apparel brand ACNE inked a 4,200 SF lease at 33 Greene St. Isaacs and Co’s Joshua Lewin repped the tenant, while RKF’s Caleb Petersen and Christopher Johnson repped owners Jonas and Ursula Hegewisch. *** The US Post Office inked a new 3,500 SF location at 116 John St to replace the aging 1 Peck Slip station, which is being redeveloped into a school. Winick Realty’s Darrell Rubens and Annie Shinn brokered the deal between the tenant and owner Metro Loft Management. *** Halevy Life signed a 1,200 SF lease at 802 Lexington Ave. Synergy Realty’s Anat Yaron repped the tenant, while CityVest Realty’s Mark Stempel repped the owner. FINANCING & RECAPITALIZATIONS A JV between Vornado’s 25%-owned real estate fund and the owner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Times Square recapped the 795-key hotel (which also has 15k SF of retail space, 180k SF of office space, nine large signage offerings, a 159-space parking garage, and a health club). The new venture will reconfigure and reposition the retail and office space, as well as add additional signage. Vornado will manage and lease the commercial components of the property, while the partner will asset manage the hotel. The fund acquired the $34M most junior tranche of the mezz debt in May; in December, the fund contributed $31M and the partner $22M to pay down third-party debt and for future capital expenditures. *** Berkadia Commercial Mortgage’s Stewart Campbell and Thomas Toland originated a $19.5M mortgage through its Fannie Mae program to recap a 53k SF, 54-unit multifamily building at 475 Driggs Ave, Williamsburg. The 10-year, fixed-rate loan features a 4.18% interest rate and 75% LTV. *** Meridian Capital Group arranged: $44M for a 21-unit, 17-story office building on East 45th Street (arranged by Allan Lieberman); $4.8M for a 68-unit, six-story multifamily building on Bolton Street, Bronx ( arranged by Avi Weinstock); $2M for a seven-unit, four-story building on West 94th Street (arranged by Morris Diamant and Steven Ribiat); and $2M for a eight-unit, four-story multifamily building on Classon Avenue, Brooklyn (arranged by Diamant and Jacob Rochlitz). *** GCP Capital Group arranged: $17.3M for a 88k SF, five-story commercial building on Union Turnpike, Flushing and $4.6M for two adjacent walk-up apartment buildings totaling 12 units and 2,500 SF of retail on Thompson Street (both arranged by Matthew Classi); and $3.2M for a 26-unit, six-story walk-up apartment building on West 109th Street and $2.6M for a 32-unit, five-story walk-up apartment building on Isham Street (both arranged by Adam Brostovski). *** HKS Capital Partners’ Jerry Swartz and Ayush Kapahi arranged: a $14M permanent mortgage of a 90-unit portfolio in the Bronx; $8M loan acquisition financing collateralized by land in Williamsburg; a $7.5M permanent mortgage on two existing boutique hotels near the Empire State Building; and a $6.1M refi of a mixed-use building containing 30 apartments, four stores, and an office at 242 E 10th St. CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT |
| Hines secured approval to use 7 Bryant Park for its new 470k SF, 28-story trophy office tower at the former site of 1045 Sixth Ave. Hines and partner Pacolet Milliken Enterprises have filed a building permit for the Pei Cobb-designed tower and are working to complete various approvals for underground work with the MTA.*** Twenty-five years after the Coughlan family began building the Stony Brook Technology Center in East Setauket, Long Island,TRITEC Real Estate completed the last piece of the 1M SF parcel. It recently received the final CO for a 40k SF medical office condo at 4 Technology Dr, the last of the 26 buildings. *** Two Trees Management Co began the first phase of a multimillion dollar renovation at 50 W 23rd St. The Lesser Architecture-designed modernization includes improvements to the lobby, entrances, elevator cabs, and façade. Two Trees purchased the 340k SF office and retail property in November ’10 for $130M. Interior completion is scheduled for June, while the exterior is anticipated for a November completion. *** The NPD Group is launching an $8M renovation of its 116k SF HQ at 900 W Shore Rd, Port Washington, Long Island. The Nassau Industrial Development Agency approved an economic development compact that will grant NPD an exemption from sales taxes on construction and equipping of the facility at $490k. The project will be completed by September ’13. BUSINESS WP Carey & Co’s Board of Directors approved its conversion to a REIT and the definitive merger agreement in which WP Carey will acquire its publicly held, non-traded REIT affiliate Corporate Properties Associates 15 immediately following the conversion. *** Hudson Realty Capital and RXR Realty launched a CRE lending platform to originate and/or purchase CRE debt assets, focusing on first-mortgage bridge loans, B-notes, mezzanine, and preferred equity opportunities in the Tri-State. The JV will target loans or make investments between $10M and $50M throughout the capital stack and will participate in most property types. *** Woodbridge, NJ-based Helios Capital Advisors is expanding into NYC, opening an office at 366 Madison Ave. The full-service real estate advisory firm specializes in the sale of mortgage loans and REO assets. The office will be led by Josh Malka and Ben Shulman. EXECUTIVE MOVES Cushman & Wakefield named Michael Bartolotta as CFO. He was previously CFO at EXOR, the US operation of C&W’s majority shareholder. He replaces Robert Rozek, who is joining a non-real estate services firm. He’s an NYU grad. *** Rockwood named Greg McManus as COO, replacing John Magee, who’s moved on to serve as EVP for CW Financial Services, Rockwood’s parent company. Greg has served as managing director and head of Rockwood’s capital markets group since joining the firm last year. *** Andrew Dady joined Gibson Dunn as real estate partner. He was previously with Schulte Roth & Zabel and held a position at Fried Frank. He’s a Columbia Law School grad. *** William O’Connor and Evelyn Seeler joined Thompson & Knight as partners, focusing on real estate capital markets, restructurings, and bankruptcies. Both were previously with Crowell & Moring. William is a Fordham grad and is a councilman for the Town of Pelham. Evelyn is a St. John’s and University of Richmond grad. *** Christine Swanick joined Sheppard Mullin as partner in the finance and bankruptcy practice, focusing on commercial financing and other credit transactions. She was previously with Dorsey & Whitney, where she co-chaired the firm’s Indian Law group. She’s a University of Arizona and Boston College grad. *** Michael Gochman joined Transwestern as a senior leader. He was previously with Gochman Group and has held positions with The Rockefeller Group, Trump Org, CBRE, and TechSpac e. He’s a University of Vermont and Pace grad. *** Tom Tingle joined Skanska USA as SVP and national director of its Sports Center of Excellence, a team of sports facility construction experts. He was previously with Intelligent Engineering and held a position at HNTB Corp. He’s a University of Kansas grad. *** Mark Lanspa joined Wells Fargo as EVP in the hospitality finance group, opening a new NYC office for the group. He was previously with Credit Suisse and held positions at Oasis Real Estate Partners, Goldman Sachs, and GE Capital Real Estate. He’s a Columbia and Georgetown grad. |
