THE DEAL SHEET
Sales Transactions
Otera Capital completed the UCC foreclosure proceeding of 1330 Avenue of the Americas as a result of a foreclosure it undertook as a mezzanine lender. Bloomberg reports that Otera took over the building with a solo bid of $100k, assuming the $240M mortgage.Macklowe purchased the property in ’06 for $498M.
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Phoenix Realty Group purchased 71 residential condo units at 460 Bergen Blvd. in Palisades Park, NJ for $18M. The units were sold by the Tarragon Corp. as part of its Chapter 11 reorganization. Phoenix plans to offer the units for lease. Cushman & Wakefield’s Jose Cruz, Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, and Gary Gabriel represented Tarragon and attorneys Cole, Schotz in the disposition.
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Piermont Properties acquired the 61k-SF Uniondale Shopping Center at 1121 Jerusalem Ave. in Uniondale, Long Island, for an undisclosed price. Cushman & Wakefield’s Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Jose Cruz, Matt O'Grady, Thomas Citron, and Robert Gibson represented the seller and procured the buyer.
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Russo Development acquired 15 acres of vacant land on Corporate Drive in Orangeburg, NY, which was formerly owned by Verizon and adjacent to the 225k-SF Verizon Wireless HQ in Rockland Corporate Park. The terms of the deal were not released, but Russo said that the property is suitable for a data center, back-office, or flex-industrial development. Grubb & Ellis’ Alan Weisman and Jeffrey Rosenburg represented both sides of the transaction.
Lease Transactions
SL Green’s 100 Park saw two big transactions: First Wall Street Group inked a seven-year, 16k-SF lease, while Wells Fargo Trade Capital Services, which signed a 44.7k-SF lease two months ago, expanded by 12.3k SF. Larry Swiger represented SL Green in-house for the First Wall Street transaction, while Cushman & Wakefield’s Paul Glickman, Alex Chudnoff, Tara Stacom, Miti Liebersohn, Diana Biasotti, and Johnathan Tootell represented SL Green in the Wells Fargo transaction.
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Mack-Cali signed three leases in its NJ portfolio: NetJets’ six-year, eight-month 19.2k-SF renewal at 581 Main St. in Woodbridge(tenant broker: Newmark Knight Frank’s David Simson; landlord broker: Mack-Cali’s Toni Casiano); The Law Offices of Stephen E. Gertler’s six-year, 13.5k-SF renewal at 1350 Campus Parkway in Wall (tenant broker: Bollerman Real Estate Services’ Mary Beth Priestly; landlord broker: Mack Cali’s Erin Moran); and Palisade Capital Management’s five-year, 17k-SF renewal and expansion at One Bridge Plaza in Fort Lee.
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Dickson’s Farmstand Meats signed a 15-year, 1.5k-SF lease at 75 Ninth Ave.’s Chelsea Market. This is the first retail location for the company, who operated primarily as a farmer’s market and internet-based business. The lease terms were not disclosed, but the asking price was $77 PSF. Robert K. Futterman’s Karen Bellantoni represented both the tenant and owner Jamestown Properties.
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French perfume retailer Editions de Parfums signed a 10-year, 800-SF ground-floor retail lease at 898 Madison Ave for its U.S. flagship store. Ron Teitelbaum Properties’ Ron Teitelbaum represented the tenant, while The Lansco Corp.’s Alan Victor and Amie Claps represented landlord 19 East 72nd Street Corp.
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French clothing company L.T.J. Arthur signed a long-term, 400-SF ground-level retail lease at 329 Bleecker St. It plans to open the store, which will be its third in Manhattan and fifth nationwide, in the spring. The Lansco Corp.’s Dan Wolf and Robin Abrams represented the tenant, while Newmark Knight Frank’s Carole Greene represented the landlord.
Financing
Kimco Realty Corp. closed on a $220M two-year unsecured loan, which bears interest at an annual rate of LIBOR plus 465 basis points, maturing in April ’11. Proceeds from this term loan will be used to partially repay outstanding amounts under the U.S. credit facility; then it will have approximately $1.6B of available borrowing capacity under its credit facilities, which bear interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 42.5 basis points and expire in ’12. The Bank of Nova Scotia and RBC Capital Markets were joint lead arrangers and book-running managers. A consortium of twelve banks, each providing between $5M to $40M, participated.
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The Community Preservation Corp. and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development increased an existing loan by $2.9M for the gut renovation of two occupied six-story rental buildings at 540-550 West 144th St. in Harlem. The properties contain 60 rental units and were original financed by CPC in ’05 with a construction and permanent loan of $7.9M.
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Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. arranged a $600k fixed-rate loan to refinance a mixed-use building in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Terms of the 6.25% financing are 30 years with a five-year option and a 75% LTV. Sean Mooney of the firm’s Brooklyn office arranged the transaction.
Construction & Development
Hyatt Hotels & Resorts and Hersha Hospitality Management plans to build a 174-room Hyatt Place on Nevins Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The hotel is expected to be completed by winter ’11.
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RFR Realty is embarking on a multi-million dollar interior and exterior capital improvement program at One, Two, Three, and Four Stamford Plaza. The buildings are undergoing a series of renovations, design changes, and engineering upgrades over the next several months, including a redesign of the hallways that interconnect Stamford Plaza and new signage. The landlord also constructed new pre-builts ranging from 1.5k to 10k SF.
ALSO AROUND NEW YORK...
Business
NAI Global formed an alliance with Site Analytics Co. to provide expanded market analytics services to NAI retail professionals. The products will help brokers determine how to most effectively identify prospective tenants and market a property, as well as advise retail clients on markets and sites for expansion or contraction. Site Analytics will be creating the new products throughout ’09, with the first set launching prior to ICSC RECON next month.
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Scott Aaron and Scott Heller, formerly of The Brauser Group, have launched Benchmark Real Estate Partners to develop market-rate and affordable residential rental and hospitality projects in the NYC metro area. It will also provide alternate exit strategies and workouts for lenders, private equity funds, and owners of distressed assets. Michael Ritz, formerly of Bear Stearns and The Carlton Group, and Mathew Pargament, who opened the Hudson Hotel, round out the group’s partnership.
Exec Moves
Newmark Knight Frank’s David Falk was promoted to president of the New York Tri-State Region, and will lead brokerage operations while continuing to perform tenant and landlord representation. He joined the firm in ’96 and has been involved in leasing more than 2.7M SF in the past two years.
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Joseph Genovesi joined Studley’s Midtown Manhattan office as executive managing director. He comes from a combined 19 years at his own firm, DG HART Associates, and as vice chairman of NAI Global New York City, where he handled transactions on behalf of clients like Cossette Communications and Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts. He is a graduate of CUNY Brooklyn.
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Daniel Alesandro and Lasia Casil joined Sinvin Realty as senior directors, together forming a national retail department for the firm. Daniel previously worked for CBRE, Newmark Knight Frank, Madison Retail Group, and Garrick-Aug, handling expansions for Michael Kors and Liz Claiborne. Lasia joins from her own brokerage, Casil & Co., and had worked for Robert K. Futterman and Newmark Knight Frank. She has been responsible for several high-profile New York and Los Angeles transactions, including the Reiss flagship in SoHo and Juicy Coture’s flagship in Beverly Hills.
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Massey Knakal promoted Robert Burton, Ken Freeman, and Paul Smadbeck to senior VP of sales, the highest recognition level. Robert joined the firm 12 years ago and has closed $360M in sales, including 142-144 Greene St., 224 Mulberry St., and 420 West Broadway. Ken joined the Brooklyn office in ’03 and has closed 70 transactions for an aggregate $230M. Paul joined the Manhattan office in ’02, closing 48 transactions totaling $500M.
