This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet

Deals were in the air in the week leading up to Valentine's Day, with a couple of big-ticket sales and a smattering of midsized leases crossing the wire in New York City.

TOP LEASES

Hudson Square Properties, a joint venture of Trinity Church Wall Street, Norges Bank Investment Management and Hines, signed a 38K SF lease this week with global fashion house Esprit, according to a release. Esprit will set up shop at 160 Varick St., which will serve as U.S. headquarters for the 55-year-old company’s global design, branding, creative and marketing efforts. CBRE’s Neil King, Zac Price, Paul Amrich, Howard Fiddle and Ben Joseph negotiated the deal on behalf of Hudson Square Properties, while Esprit was represented by CBRE’s Jason Frazier. Other tenants at the property include New York Public Radio and Maven Clinic.

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NYC nonprofit Oliver Scholars has signed a lease at 14 Wall St. to take 13K SF at the historic FiDi office building, known as the Bankers Trust Building, and owned by Roza 14W LLC. Oliver Scholars will relocate from 80 Maiden Lane to take part of the 17th floor at the 1910-built property that sits across from the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall. CBRE’s Bradley Gerla and Mike Rizzo are in charge of marketing the 1.1M SF office tower, and they repped its ownership in this deal.

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JEMB Realty Corp. has signed three leases totaling 32K SF at 75 Broad St., according to a release. Marketing agency Gallegos United, whose clients include Anheuser-Busch and Chick-fil-A, has signed a 14K SF lease for part of the 19th floor. It was represented by Tucker Hughes of Hughes Marino. Branding and graphic design agency GHD Partners is moving to 5K SF at the 720K SF tower from Midtown South. Prime Manhattan Realty’s Jon Anapol and TJ Garner represented GHD on the 27th-floor deal. Healthcare company Modivcare signed a 13K SF lease for part of the sixth floor with representation from Cresa’s Tom Sullivan and Peter Sabesan. CBRE’s Neil King and Zachary Price repped JEMB in all transactions at the 34-story, Buchman & Khan-designed building that was originally constructed in 1928 and has undergone restoration by MdeAS Architects to refurbish the lobby, existing murals, original light fittings and marble finishes. 

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The New York Fire Department has signed a 201K SF lease in Maspeth, Queens, for a fire truck repair shop, Commercial Observer reported. The FDNY’s new repair location will be located at Sitex Group-owned 58-80 Borden Ave., a two-story building with a large outdoor area close to the Long Island Expressway. It includes 170K SF of parking and a 32K SF warehouse. FDNY will pay roughly $17 per SF for the first five years of the 20-year lease, with annual rent coming to $3.4M, and going up to $3.9M for the following five years, to $4.5M for years 10 through 15 of the lease and $5.2M for the final five, representing an increase to $26 per SF by the end of the contract. CBRE’s Yun Park represented the city in the deal, while Pinnacle Realty’s Decio Baio, David Junik and James Tack marketed the property for the landlord.

TOP SALES

Hilton Grand Vacations has purchased a 161-key timeshare hotel in Midtown Manhattan from private equity firm 54 Madison Partners for $136M, Commercial Observer reported. Hilton Grand Vacations is the latest in a long line of changing hands for the embattled property, first built by developer Hidrock Realty just prior to the pandemic, located at 12 East 48th St. Hidrock failed to “substantially complete” the 31-story hotel, for which Midland National Life Insurance was the senior lender and 54 Madison Partners provided mezzanine debt, before the end of 2019 — which 54 Madison Partners then used to argue in January 2020 that Hidrock had defaulted on the loan. It took over the property later that year. The hotel opened in summer 2021 with rooms starting at $350 per night, operated by Hilton and using the name The Central at 5th. Hilton Grand Vacations’ purchase of the hotel from 54 Madison Partners marks its fifth timeshare hotel, an agreement that allows owners to stay for a set period of time every year by purchasing a share in the property.

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Columbia Property Trust took a significant loss on a 12-story office tower in Midtown South it sold last week. Jewelry and home decor company Enchanté Accessories purchased the 127K SF building at 149 Madison Ave. for $77M, Bisnow previously reported. Columbia Property Trust first bought the land underneath the building in 2017 for $87.7M, and took over the building when the leasehold expired a year later. It signed WeWork to fill the entire building, but WeWork ultimately backed out of the deal. Despite a renovation that cost almost $16M, the 115K SF office portion of the property is still vacant. 

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London-based global education company Cognita Schools has purchased a school property a stone’s throw from Lincoln Square as its first venture into North America, according to a release. Cognita has been under contract to buy 40 West 68th St. for $50M from owner York Prep Realty since September last year, PincusCo first reported. The deal closed after York Prep Realty obtained permission for a zoning change last June that allowed for expansions to the school property, public records show.

TOP FINANCING DEALS

Developers Joy Construction and Maddd Equities scored a $288M loan from Wells Fargo’s Community Lending and Investment for their upcoming development at 375 West 207th St., according to a release. The construction financing will fund the construction of North Cove, a 100% affordable mixed-use project that will bring 611 residential units to the northern Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood. Amenities will include bike storage, recreational and community space, laundry facilities, outdoor and rooftop areas and high-speed internet, with 94 of the units reserved for formerly homeless people. The project will also feature 60K SF of commercial space, 120 parking spots and a public access waterfront park adjacent to the project on city land. Korbin Heiss and David Mayseless, of Wells Fargo CLI Equity, provided the loan via the purchase of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and New York State Brownfield Redevelopment Tax Credits.

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Elevate Research Properties, the life sciences subsidiary of Taconic Partners, nabbed a $300M refinancing for its eight-story West End Labs project this week. The property, located at 125 West End Ave. and expected to deliver this June, is the first to be completed under the Elevate name and will sit in the renovated, 1929-built former home of a Chrysler showroom. An entity linked to Apollo Global Management provided the loan to Taconic and its partner, Nuveen Real Estate, which purchased the property together in 2019 for $230M.