This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet
In a week when the Federal Reserve increased interest rates another 75 basis points and signaled more rises were on their way, New York City's commercial real estate market had a slow week, particularly on the financing side.
TOP LEASES
Private equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co. has signed a lease expansion and extension at 299 Park Ave., according to a release. Landlord Fisher Brothers recently invested $20M, beginning in late 2020, in large-scale capital improvements including lobby and exterior facade renovations. Freeman Spogli will occupy more than 11K SF on the 20th floor starting in early 2023, in a deal brokered on their behalf by CBRE’s Ken Rapp and Michael Liss. Fisher Brothers had in-house representation from Marc Packman, Clark Briffel, Charles Laginestra and Josh Fisher.
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AI-based startup Altana, which uses data to provide global supply chain models, has signed a 21K SF lease at Rubenstein Partners’ mixed-use office and light manufacturing building 25 Kent, according to a release. The 500K SF, eight-story commercial building in Williamsburg also landed global flex space provider Mindspace for 37K SF last month. Altana is relocating from its 134 North Fourth St. address to occupy the space after raising $100M in a recent Series B funding round, and will use 25 Kent as its New York headquarters. JLL’s Peter Riguardi and Whitten Morris represented Rubenstein Partners in the deal, while Sam Seiler and Joe Sipala, also of JLL, repped Altana.
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Simone Development has signed 23K SF worth of lease expansions and renewals at its Hutchinson Metro Center at 1250 Waters Place in the Bronx, according to a release. Father-and-son orthopedic team Shein Orthopedics, which has offices in New York and New Jersey, signed a 7K SF long-term renewal in the building with representation from SVN BIOC Commercial Real Estate Advisors. Law firm Peña & Kahn, which specializes in personal injury litigation, also signed a 16K SF renewal and expansion.
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One Ten West Fortieth Associates has signed eight leases totaling 13K SF at its 110 West 40th St. office tower, according to a release. Private investment management firm Foundation Capital Partners, creative capital firm Burch Creative Capital LLC, Copper Hill Development, Chinese state-owned energy company Yeig International US Inc., NY-based rowing nonprofit Row New York, investigative cybersecurity firm Naxo Labs LLC, boutique law firm Kim & Serritella LLP and interior renovation firm Crafted Interiors Design + Build LLC all took small spaces. Asking rents were between $68 and $70 per SF, with Adams & Co.’s David Levy and Brett Maslin represented the landlord in each of the transactions. Adams & Co.'s Jeff Buslik repped Burch Capital. Naxo Labs had representation from Newmark’s Jon Franzel.
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TF Cornerstone has signed childcare company Mind Body Soul Children’s Society to 15K SF at its FiDi 2 Gold St. property, Commercial Observer reported. The space, to which the childcare company committed for 15 years with a five-year extension option, includes a 900 SF ground-floor entrance and 14K SF on the second floor. Asking rents at the space, which was previously built out for a Montesorri program that shuttered, were $65 per SF. Daniyel Cohen and Spencer Planit of Winick Realty Group represented the landlord, while David Green and Ori Melloul of KSR repped the tenant.
TOP SALES
The single-story retail building at 109-32 Ascan Ave. in Forest Hills, which is leased to Portofino Italian Restaurant and a Foodtown grocery store, has sold for $12.25M, according to a release. Portofino has been in the building for more than 45 years, and Foodtown has a lease in place until August 2028 with extension options through to 2043. The buyer, an LLC in the care of Astoria-based Kartsonis Realty, plans to continue with existing leases and was represented by Entrepreneur Properties NYC. Seller Neos Realty Corp. had representation from Ripco's Stephen Preuss, Kevin Schmitz, Andreas Efthymiou and Kevin Louie.
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Zev Golombeck, the longtime owner of the Spice Factory, has sold 960 Franklin Ave. to Isaac Hager and Daryl Hagler for $43M in an all-cash transaction, The Real Deal reports. The building, built in 1898, was originally home to the Consumers Park Brewing Co. before serving as a base for a spice warehouse in 1955. Golombeck had previously planned to sell the site to Bruce Eichner’s Continuum Co. and Lincoln Equities, which wanted to erect two 39-story towers that would have cast year-round shadows across the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The deal fell through when rezoning efforts failed. Golombeck has since filed plans for a six-story, 293-unit building at the site, which would not require rezoning, although it is unclear if the new buyers will carry out Golombeck’s plan. Lipa Lieberman, David Schechtman and Abie Kassin of Meridian Capital brokered the sale.
TOP FINANCING
A&E Real Estate has scored a $170M fixed-rate acquisition loan from Signature Bank for the acquisition of a 14-property multifamily portfolio in Brooklyn’s Gravesend and Sheepshead Bay neighborhoods from The LeFrak Organization, according to a release. The $248.7M deal, brokered by Cushman & Wakefield’s Adam Spies, Adam Doneger and Daniel O'Brien, was under contract in April and closed this week. The portfolio covers 1,212 apartments, five commercial spaces and more than 300 parking spaces. The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions by A&E, which has acquired more than 3,000 units in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens in the last 12 months alone.
