This Week’s N.Y. Deal Sheet
The August doldrums have set in, with leasing and sales activity falling off — until a Tuesday afternoon headquarters stunner.
TOP LEASES
KPMG is moving its headquarters to 456K SF across 12 floors at Brookfield's Two Manhattan West, it announced Tuesday. In one of the biggest deals in New York so far this year, the Big Four accounting firm is consolidating three offices in Midtown, which combined account for more than 800K SF, into the new space when it moves in 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported. It is vacating space in 345 Park Ave., its headquarters, 560 Lexington Ave. and 1350 Sixth Ave. KPMG didn't say which brokers worked on the deal, which brings the 1.9M SF tower to over 50% leased. KPMG was represented by Michael Geoghegan, Lewis Miller, Joseph Cabrera, Douglas Lehman and Cara Chayet of CBRE. Brookfield Properties was represented in-house by Jeremiah Larkin, Duncan McCuaig, Mikael Nahmias, PJ Massey and Dave Caperna, as well as Bruce Mosler, Josh Kuriloff, Rob Lowe, Ethan Silverstein, Matthias Li and Nicholas Dysenchuk of Cushman & Wakefield.
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BuzzFeed has agreed to sublease its 110K SF office at 225 Park Ave. South to software company monday.com, Crain’s New York Business reports. The media company will reportedly halve its office footprint in a move to a new location, the former New York Times building at 229 West 43rd St. Both properties are owned by Columbia Property Trust. Jim Wenk, Kirill Azovtsev, Alex Redlus and Allison Buck of Savills represented monday.com in the sublease deal for the property’s 13th through 16th floors. CBRE’s Jason Frazier, Jesse de la Rama and Christopher Mansfield represented BuzzFeed in the transaction.
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Arts and crafts retailer Michaels has renewed its lease for 32K SF at GFP Real Estate’s 675 Sixth Ave., according to a release. The building spans the whole city block on the west side of Sixth Avenue in a Lower Manhattan shopping district known as Ladies’ Mile at the end of the 19th century. The building’s other retail tenants include Trader Joe’s and Harmon Face Values, and Michaels has been a tenant since 2014. GFP’s Jeffrey Gural represented both the tenant and the landlord in the deal.
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Developer GDSNY has signed production company 101 Studios to its 1245 Broadway property, Commercial Observer reports. The Beverly Hills-based entertainment company will occupy 8K SF at the 23-story tower, where other tenants include film studio A24 and game maker Avalanche Studios. Landlord GDSNY finished the 200K SF building earlier this month along with Corem of Swede, and was represented by CBRE’s Paul Amrich and Neil King. 101 Studios had representation from EOP Realty’s Lee Polster.
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Apparel retailer Dolls Kill is opening its first East Coast store at Javeri Capital’s 33 Howard St., where The Real Deal reports the two parties signed a 10K SF lease. The retailer is planning an international retail expansion, with the three-story NYC store as one of the earliest stages. Isaacs and Co.’s Jeremy Aidan represented Dolls Kill in the deal.
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William Macklowe Co. and Senlac Ridge Partners have signed pharmacy CVS and German grocery chain Lidl to a combined 38K SF at the developers' 120 Fifth Ave. project in Park Slope, according to a release. The retailers will occupy the ground floor and lower level in one of the two planned mixed-use buildings at the site, although the exact size of each lease was not disclosed. RIPCO Real Estate’s Jason Pennington, Alex Beard and Ben Weiner represented the landlord, while Newmark’s Jason Pruger, Harrison Abramowitz and Ross Kaplan represented CVS and Schuckman Real Estate’s Ken Schuckman represented Lidl.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Rockrose Development scored a $230M loan from Equitable Financial Life Insurance Co. to refinance a FiDi multifamily property, Commercial Observer reported. The lender granted Rockrose a 10-year, fixed-rate loan for its 567-unit, 430K SF building on 200 Water St. Scott Singer and Andy Singer of Avison Young arranged the financing deal.
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The Hematian family, owners of diamond ring designer Effy Jewelry, secured a $75M loan for their 19-story Midtown tower, 590 Fifth Ave., Commercial Observer reported. Signature Bank is the lender on the debt package, which refinances the office and retail building the Hematians bought in October for $103M. SL Green had taken over the property after Thor Equities defaulted on a mezzanine loan, then sold it to the jewelry magnates.
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An investor linked to 399 3rd Avenue Propco LLC snagged a $92.7M loan to buy a six-story building in Gowanus that houses a family shelter, Commercial Observer reports. The loan originated from a company associated with Colorado-based hedge fund Bear Creek Asset Management. It’s unclear at present what the buyer’s plans for the property are, although even after last year’s Gowanus rezoning, the property reportedly retains an M1-4 zoning allowing for commercial developments only. The LLC has also purchased multiple shelter buildings from the city within the last year via affiliated businesses, including the Montefiore Family Health Center at 360 East 193rd St. and a women’s shelter at 427 West 52nd St. The 399 Third Ave. shelter was built in 2013 as a hotel before being converted into a family shelter in 2019 by Praxis Housing Initiatives in a $29.13M, five-year contract with New York City Department of Homeless Services.
TOP SALES
Real estate owner and operator Davean Holdings has purchased a trio of Lower Manhattan buildings from Citi Urban Management for $25.5M in an off-market deal, according to a release. Rosewood Realty Group's Aaron Jungreis, Ben Khakshoor and Alex Fuchs represented both Davean Holdings and the seller, Citi Urban Management, a management company owned by the Halegua family. The buildings, 163, 165 and 167 First Ave., have 19 apartment units in total, in addition to seven commercial spaces and an antenna.
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Top Rock Holdings and RJ Capital are in contract to buy the Forest Hills Jewish Center, located at 106-06 Queens Blvd., as a teardown development site, The Real Deal reported. The site was originally marketed at around $50M but is reportedly selling for around $40M. Although RJ Capital’s website has a rendering of an eight-story building with floor-by-floor layouts, Top Rock’s Uri Mermelstein told TRD that the investors haven't decided on what to build in the space. The Forest Hills Jewish Center has reportedly been looking to sell for two decades due to the already-outdated space’s deterioration and the expense to maintain it, the Queens Chronicle previously reported.
