This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet
As voters lined up at the polls this week, commercial real estate closed some big deals, as November looks to build on October's increase in deal volume.
TOP LEASES
New York University Langone Medical Center renewed its 633K SF lease at Vornado’s One Park Avenue in Midtown South, Colliers’ October office snapshot revealed. The deal is the second-largest office lease of the year, following Facebook’s lease at the Farley Post Office building, also owned by Vornado.
The hospital expanded its footprint at One Park Avenue in 2011, doubling its space at the time to 367,584 SF, and then expanded again in 2018, leasing up 150K SF more, with asking rent in the mid-$70s per SF in that agreement, Crain’s New York Business reported. While the brokers on this most recent renewal were not revealed in the report, Cushman & Wakefield represented the hospital in both earlier transactions. The hospital has been expanding across the Midtown East area in recent years.
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Amazon just used a lot of ink to secure expansions of its e-commerce operations in the outer boroughs and surrounding suburbs. It penned a 364K SF lease at Realterm Logistics' 5 Warehouse Lane in Elmsford, Westchester. It also signed a lease at the industrial landlord’s 1502 Bassett Ave. in the Bronx. In addition, it signed a lease at 2300 Linden Blvd., owned by an affiliate of Harbor Group International. The size of the two New York City leases have not yet been reported. All three locations will be used for delivery stations, Amazon's term for last-mile facilities.
In a deal reported later in the week, Amazon inked a 312K SF, 20-year lease at 280 Richards St. in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Commercial Observer reports. Thor Equities owns that property. The brokers on the deal were not reported, but CBRE announced the lease in its Q3 2020 snapshot released last month. The building is under construction with an end date still to be determined, according to CBRE.
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Weight Loss technology company Noom Inc. inked a new 113K SF office lease at Brookfield’s Five Manhattan West, according to Colliers’ October snapshot. It was the third-largest lease signed this month and the largest non-renewal lease signed in Manhattan in October, according to Colliers. The New York-based company was founded in 2008. It quadrupled its revenue in 2019, Forbes reported in January.
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Hong Kong-based supply-chain management company Li & Fung renewed its 103,500 SF office lease at the Empire State Building, Empire State Realty Trust announced in its Q3 earnings report. The company now takes up 253K SF in the Empire State Building and ESRT’s 1359 Broadway combined, less than the 490K SF it took up in the Empire State Building alone in a 2011 lease. Brokers on the lease were not reported in the earnings report.
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Home Depot signed this year’s largest New York City retail lease at Gazit-Globe’s 410 East 61st St. on the Upper East Side, the landlord announced. The home improvement retailer will take up 120K SF on four floors of the building, in the space currently occupied by Bed Bath & Beyond, whose lease is set to expire in 2021. Home Depot will move from its current location at 731 Lexington Ave. to this new space next year. Peter Ripka of Ripco Real Estate represented the landlord and tenant in negotiations, the landlord said.
TOP SALES
JFR Global Investments purchased a 553K SF industrial building at 100 Jefferson Road in Parsippany, New Jersey, from Harbor Group International and Turnbridge Equities, Commercial Property Executive reports. The property sold for $85.3M and was 64% leased. The JLL Capital Markets team representing the seller included Jose Cruz, Jordan Avanzato, Marc Duval, Michael Oliver, Kevin O’Hearn and Steve Simonelli. The property sits on a 35.9-acre parcel, and HGI and Turnbridge recently pumped millions into a renovation project.
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Steel Equities purchased a 28K SF warehouse at 375 Johnson Ave. from Normandy Real Estate Partners, Princeton Holdings and Royalton Capital for $20M, The Real Deal reports. The property also includes a 15K SF lot and development rights for 80K SF. The buyer recently leased out space In Bushwick to Netflix at one of its properties nearby. David Junik and Decio Baio of Pinnacle Realty negotiated the deal, TRD reports.
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Black Spruce Management purchased 50 apartment buildings for $200M in a portfolio sale on the Upper West Side, The Real Deal reports. The Orbach Group sold the properties, which contain a total of 675 units. The majority of the buildings are near the north of Central Park on the West Side. Rosewood Realty Group’s Aaron Jungries brokered the deal, TRD reports.
TOP FINANCING
Merchants Capital Corp. lent Fairstead $52.4M on its property at 117 West 79th St., formerly Park 79 Hotel, PincusCo. Media reports. Fairstead purchased the building, located a half-block from Central Park, for $22.5M in 2018 and is transforming it into an affordable senior residence, West Side Rag reports.
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Related Cos. scored a $44.2M refinancing loan for Bronx multifamily properties, PincusCo. Media reports. Goldman Sachs provided the debt. The properties include 2984 Third Ave., 3006 Third Ave. and a property on Bergen Avenue.
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Richard Scharf of Arbo Management secured $35.5M in refinancing on his 102-unit apartment building at 425 Third Ave. in Kips Bay, PincusCo. Media reports. The building is located on the corner of East 30th Street and Bagel Café is the ground-floor retailer.
