This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet
During what is typically the most active time of the year, deed filings in New York City's filing system decreased by more than 80%, a PincusCo. Media analysis showed, and muted markets for office leasing and real estate finance have kept deal flow to a trickle.
TOP SALES
Carter Management Corp. picked up a 10-story mid-construction condominium project at 305 East 61st St. for $51M in a bankruptcy auction, Commercial Observer reports. Developer Mitchell Marks acquired the property for $40M back in 2016 and planned to convert the building from an art storage space to multifamily. Rosewood Realty Group's Greg Corbin and Maltz Auctions' Richard Maltz piloted the deal with Carter Management Corp.
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Kahen Development purchased a development site at 1499 Bedford Ave. in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, for $13.9M, brokerage Venture Capital Properties confirmed to Bisnow. Sanford Nager, a multifamily landlord in Brooklyn, sold the property. The building is set to have 98 units, according to New York YIMBY. Venture Capital Properties’ Hirschy Zaks, Ben Kopilev and Itan Rahmani brokered the deal.
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A confidential buyer purchased a five-building Brooklyn portfolio for $12.2M from Benjamin Zalman, Marcus & Millichap confirmed to Bisnow. The portfolio includes 770 Washington Ave., 66 Sixth Ave., 585 Vanderbilt Ave., 40 Fourth Ave. and 257 Flatbush Ave. in Prospect Heights and Park Slope. Marcus & Millichap’s Shaun Riney, Peter Von Der Ahe, Mark Zarrella and Andrew Bronsteen brokered the deal.
TOP FINANCING
Botanic Properties scored a $24M loan for its recent purchase of 24-02 Queens Plaza South, JLL Capital Markets announced. Private equity firm MSD Partners, the family office of billionaire Michael Dell, provided the debt. The Carlyle Group, an investor in Botanic Properties, was listed on a deed on the property filed with the city earlier this month. The owner plans to develop the space for commercial use once the lease is up for the building’s current tenant, Apex Technical School.
Botanic Properties focuses on developing properties for life sciences. With record amounts of private and public financing being funneled into the sector this year and demand increasing, total lab space across the city is set to increase from 1.72M SF at the end of the first half of 2020 to 3.3M SF by 2023. Botanic Properties’ new space is in Long Island City, where one of the city’s life sciences clusters is burgeoning. Christopher Peck, Steve Klein and Thomas Pryor of JLL brokered the deal for Botanic Properties.
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Pan Am Equities secured $31M to refinance its 19-story, 97-unit apartment building at 2 Water St. called New York Plaza, PincusCo. Media reports. Bayerische Landesbank — a publicly regulated bank, owned in part by the Free State of Bavaria and based in Munich — provided the debt. The building was built in 1985 and was converted to luxury apartments in 2011, according to StreetEasy.
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Carmine Abruzzo scored a $10.5M loan for the BMW showroom garage at 6223 Second Ave. in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, PincusCo. Media reports. Bank of America financed the debt. Abruzzo is the general manager of BMW of Brooklyn, according to his LinkedIn profile.
TOP LEASES
Biotechnology company Volastra Therapeutics inked an 11K SF lease at Janus Property Co.'s the Mink Building at 1361 Amsterdam Ave. in Harlem. This is the latest lab lease penned as the life sciences sector continues to grow amid economic turmoil. The area, 10 blocks north of Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus center, is considered one of the city’s growing life sciences clusters. Janus Property Co. is also developing a life sciences center, dubbed the Taystee Lab Building at 450 125th St., nearby.
