This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet
This week, two major projects in the city landed big financing packages, embattled WeWork finalized a huge lease and two Midtown hotels changed hands.
TOP LEASES
WeWork, amid a week of executive purging and IPO pausing, finalized a major lease late Friday. The company committed to a more-than-362K SF spread at 437 Madison Ave., the Midtown tower owned by William Kaufman Organization and Travelers Cos. The deal was announced by Sage Realty Corp., WKO's leasing and management arm. The location will span 12 floors and include a private entrance and private outdoor terrace when WeWork takes over at the beginning of 2021. Sage Realty’s Michael Lenchner joined with JLL’s Frank Doyle, David Kleiner, Cynthia Wasserberger, Hayley Shoener and Harlan Webster to represent the landlord. Peter Riguardi and Howard Hersch, also of JLL, represented WeWork.
***
Design firm Harper + Scott is taking 17,456 SF at Three World Trade Center, landlord Silverstein Properties announced last week. The space is on the 40th floor and the company will be moving there from 915 Broadway next year. Silverstein’s Jeremy Moss and Camille McGratty arranged the deal for the landlord, along with a CBRE team led by Mary Ann Tighe and Ken Meyerson. Jeff Fischer and Joe D’Apice, also of CBRE, represented the tenant.
***
Ikea announced it is bringing a 115K SF store to the Rego Center at the corner of Queens Boulevard and Junction Boulevard. The store, at Vornado’s three-story complex in Rego Park, will open next summer, Ikea says, and be its first location in Queens. Robert Minutoli of Urban Edge Properties represented the landlord while CBRE represented the tenant, according to Commercial Observer.
***
Crux Informatics inked a seven-year lease deal for 18K SF on the 18th floor of Marx Realty’s 10 Grand Central, the landlord announced. The firm is moving from the Seagram Building at 375 Park Ave. The building’s asking rents range from $82 to $130 per SF. JLL’s Howard Hersch, Sam Seiler, Brett Harvey and Cynthia Wasserberger are handling leasing at the building.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Tishman Speyer secured $1B from Bank of America and Wells Fargo for the refinancing of Jackson Park in Long Island City, the company announced last week. This new financing retires $640M in construction debt from 2015. The project has three luxury residential towers at 28-40, 28-30 and 28-10 Jackson Ave., with a total of 1,871 apartments. JLL’s Michael Tepedino, Michael Gigliotti and Geoff Goldstein arranged the financing for Tishman Speyer.
***
Cain International led a financing package for OKO Group — the development company formed by Aman Chairman and CEO Vladislav Doronin — of $750M for its planned conversion of the upper part of 730 Fifth Ave. Cain provided $450M in mezzanine financing and worked to arrange a senior tranche of $300M from Bank OZK, the companies said. The loan replaces the $284.5M Cain provided for the project in January.
***
Cammeby’s International Group locked down a $500M Fannie Mae loan to refinance a collection of 3,300 units in Queens, The Real Deal reports. Capital One provided the debt, and it includes a nearly $190M multifamily mortgage, per TRD. Independence Community Bank provided $325M debt in 2006. The properties span eight tax lots around the Long Island Expessway and cover hundreds of buildings as well as a piece of land.
TOP SALES
CB Developers paid $59.5M to hotelier Eric Goode for an interest in 358 Bowery, PincusCo reports. The building currently on the site, at the corner of Bowery and East Fourth Street, is a one-story B Bar & Grill, which Goode bought in 2004 for $5.5M.
***
A subsidiary of South Korea’s Aju Hotels & Resorts spent more than $137M buying two hotels in Midtown, The Real Deal reports. Park Hotels & Resorts sold the properties, which it started marketing after it acquired them in its purchase of Chesapeake Lodging Trust earlier this year. Aju paid $85.5M for 52 West 36th St. and $51.2M for 30 West 31st St. The two properties have 307 rooms in total.
***
Avery Hall Investments paid EcoRise Development $44.1M for a development site in Gowanus, The Real Deal reports. The site’s addresses are 469 President St., 473 President St. and 514 Union St. JLL’s Brendan Maddigan, Stephen Palmese, Winfield Clifford, Michael Mazzara and Ethan Stanton were marketing the property. The site could feature 98K SF of commercial development.
