This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet
Some colossal loan agreements dominated NYC’s real estate deals this week amid an uptick in leasing and a tepid sales market.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
The Chetrit Group and Stellar Management snagged a $714M CMBS loan to refinance two luxury towers on the Upper East Side, Commercial Observer reported. The loan, which comes from a combination of Citigroup, BMO Capital Markets, Starwood Property Trust and MF1 Capital, will be split across several CMBS notes and replaces $550M borrowed from Natixis and UBS in 2017. Hendry Bodek of Galaxy Capital negotiated the deal for the properties: the Yorkshire Towers at 305 East 86th St. and the Lexington Towers at 160 East 88th St.
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JPMorgan Chase has originated a $425M loan to Jamestown to fund the redevelopment of its 25-story One Times Square building, CO reported. The loan will refinance existing debt, going toward redevelopment costs to bring 12 floors to life in the 118-year-old building. Approximately $208M of the loan will go toward paying off Jamestown’s CMBS loan from Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, in addition to two project and building loans worth $39.8M and $88.7M, respectively. Grant Frankel, Tanner McNeill and Ethan Pond of Eastdil Secured oversaw the transaction.
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Dynamic Star scored a total of $115M from Columbia Pacific Advisors Bridge Lending to service a development site in Queens and a piece of its Fordham Landing megaproject in the Bronx, according to a release. A $40M loan will go toward the planned 680K SF mixed-use development at 320 West Fordham Road, while another $36M will go to a 480K SF industrial storage space a short distance away at 301 West Fordham Road. If Dynamic Star gets the rezoning approvals it needs for Fordham Landing, The Real Deal reports that the project will be one of NYC's biggest real estate deals since Hudson Yards — providing almost 2,400 apartments, including 720 affordable units.
In Long Island City, Columbia Pacific lent $38.5M on the development site at 23-10 Queens Plaza South, a parking structure Dynamic Star bought in 2019 and plans to develop into a 27-story office-over-retail building.
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Breslin Realty Development and Fields Grade Development have landed a $109M loan from PacWest PCCP for a Long Island apartment project, CO reported. The loan goes to fund construction of 201 units, which is expected to start within the next two months and wrap up in summer 2024. Lee Spiegelman, Mark DeLillo, Marc Schulder and Felipe Marin of BlueGate Partners brokered the deal.
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A 10-story commercial mixed-use development at 1508 Coney Island Ave. in Midwood has received a $92M loan from Parkview Financial REIT, according to a release. Construction on the 215K SF project, which includes 112K SF of office space and is 30% pre-leased, is expected to finish next fall. Farrell Fritz P.C.’s Jeffrey Levin provided legal counsel for Parkview in the deal, while Lester Bleckner & Shaw LLP’s Ian Lester, Marty Shaw, Allen Schifino and David Levy provided counsel for the borrower, Triangle 613 LLC.
TOP LEASES
A Paramount Group tenant at 1301 Sixth Ave. will expand on its existing lease, Commercial Observer reported. Investment bank SVB Securities signed a 139K SF lease, adding 68K SF to the space it currently occupies at the property. The 1.7M SF building is known as the Crédit Agricole CIB Building after its anchor tenant, which cut its footprint to 167K SF in the building last year.
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Brookfield Properties inked its first least at 660 Fifth Ave. since buying the ground lease on the building in 2018, according to a release. Global financial services firm Macquarie Group signed a 222K SF lease at the recently redeveloped Class-A office tower after more than a decade of financial woes and political entanglements for the building. JLL’s Peter Riguardi, Frank Doyle, Joseph Messina, Steven Rotter, Cynthia Wasserberger, Jessica Berkey, William McGarry, Carlee Palmer and Kristina Kopans brokered a deal on Macquarie’s behalf. Mikael Nahmias, Hayley Shoener and P.J. Massey of Brookfield Properties provided in-house representation for the landlord, with help from Cushman & Wakefield’s Bruce Mosler, Josh Kuriloff, Ethan Silverstein, John Santora, Matthias Li, Nicholas Dysenchuk and Howard Cross.
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Tishman Speyer announced yet another tenant at The Spiral, with NewYork-Presbyterian’s Och Spine outpatient center taking 75K SF on the second floor for 20 years, according to a release. Tishman will create a dedicated lobby for the outpatient center and was represented in-house. The 1,031-foot, 2.8M SF skyscraper at 66 Hudson Blvd. is now more than 70% leased and expected to wrap up construction later this year. The Hudson Yards-area tower has also landed leases for Pfizer and Turner Construction's headquarters, HSBC's U.S. HQ and AllianceBernstein's remaining New York offices.
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JDS Development has signed a 100K SF lease with fitness chain Life Time at The Brooklyn Tower ahead of the supertall’s planned opening this summer, according to a press release. Life Time will open a 15K SF Life Time Work coworking concept at the 93-story tower, its first in the city, as well a large gym, exercise studios, pools, social spaces and a restaurant area. The facility is expected to open in 2023. JDS had representation from Jackie Totolo, Peter Whitenack and Pierce Thompson of Newmark in the deal, while Atlantic Retail’s Joe Mastromonaco represented Life Time.
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The 23rd Street Complex has four new tenants totaling 22K SF, according to a release. At 49 West 23rd St., media engagement platform Conviva and jeweler Luvente each leased nearly 6K SF at asking rents of $62 per SF. Cryptocurrency fund Room 40 Capital and commercial furnishing company Kimball International Brands both signed three-year leases for over 5K SF each at 30 West 24th St., with an asking rent of $55 per SF. A team from Adams & Co, made up of James Buslik, Jeff Buslik, Alan Bonett and Brad Cohn, represented the landlord, Twenty-Three R.P. Associates, in all transactions. Conviva had representation from JLL’s Jason Roberts, while William Landsberg of Kaufman Leasing Co. brokered the deal on behalf of Luvente. Newmark’s Jared Horowitz and Justin Pollner represented Room 40 Capital, and Buslik represented Kimball International Brands.
TOP SALES
Titan Golden Capital now owns the ground beneath the office building at 645 Madison Ave. after acquiring the ground lease last year, The Real Deal reported. Titan paid $197M to owner National Realty and Development Corp. after buying the distressed 22-story office building for $26.6M last year. Eric Anton and Nelson Lee of Marcus & Millichap arranged the deal for the ground lease purchase for the California-based fund.
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Yechiel Newhouse bought 1514 Sedgwick Ave. from Sharp Management for $22.5M, Crain’s New York Business reports. Newhouse acquired the 13-story, 93K SF multifamily building in Morris Heights, which was built in 2004 and boasts Harlem River views. Newhouse also acquired another residential Bronx building last month, in addition to 407 mostly rent-stabilized Harlem units in late 2019, Commercial Observer reported. Victor Sozio, Daniel Mahfar and Shimon Shkury of Ariel Property Advisors brokered the sale of the Morris Heights property.
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Investor Daryl Hagler is now the owner of 35-11 Ninth St. in Astoria, Queens, after purchasing the property for $26.4M, according to a release. The four-story building is a factory-turned-office located in an opportunity zone, with R5 zoning allowing for residential conversion. The building also recently finished a $6.4M upgrade, including elevator improvements and other renovations. James Nelson, Erik Edeen, Brent Glodowski and Charles Kingsley of Avison Young represented the seller but declined to disclose the identity of the seller.
