This Week’s N.Y. Deal Sheet
New York City’s mild winter is thawing as the first rays of spring sunlight hit the city, but financing agreements and sales are still under a thick layer of ice.
TOP LEASES
Engineering firm STV has signed a 65K SF, 16-year lease at the Empire State Building, Commercial Observer reports. Asking rents for the 11th-floor lease at the 102-story Art Deco skyscraper, one of the world's most recognizable buildings, were $69 per SF. The company, which does work in architecture, construction management and contracting, will move from its current digs at 225 Park Ave. South for the Empire State Building in 2024. It was represented by Savills’ David Goldstein and Dina Zavislak. Empire State Realty Trust had in-house representation from Ryan Kass, Jordan Berger and Shanae Ursini, plus additional representation from Newmark's Scott Klau, Erik Harris and Neil Rubin.
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Irish bargain apparel retailer Primark has signed a 55K SF lease at the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst, CO reports. The deal follows Primark announcing its intentions to open 60 stores across the U.S. by 2026, following its 2017 debut on Staten Island. The Queens Center Mall location will be the brand’s seventh deal with landlord Macerich and its fifth in New York City. CBRE’s David LaPierre and Kristen Crossman represented Primark in the transaction.
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Axis Insurance has signed a deal for 40K SF at 1166 Sixth Ave., where Edward J. Minskoff Equities owns condominium interests from the second through 21st floors, according to a release. Other tenants in the 44-story tower include Sprint T-Mobile Communications, investment firms Janney Montgomery Scott and William Blair and consulting firms FTI and Huron Consulting. Axis will take the entire 17th floor of the property for 10 years, relocating down the street from 1211 Sixth Ave. EJME was repped by JLL’s Paul Glickman, Diana Biasotti, Cynthia Wasserberger and Christine Colley, while CBRE’s Michael Monaghan, Mark Ravesloot and Michael Poch repped Axis.
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The Winter Organization’s 881 Broadway has lured a retail tenant from its longtime Houston Street location, Commercial Observer reports. Crate & Barrel will move from 611 Broadway — its 40K SF home for 20 years — to 35K SF at the Winter Organization’s landmarked property, where asking rents were reportedly $300 per SF. Kristen Crossman and David LaPierre of CBRE represented Crate & Barrel in the deal, which runs for 10 years, while Ariel Schuster of Newmark represented the landlord.
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The Seagram Building is now 95% leased following a 26K SF agreement with Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek International, according to a release. Landlord RFR was represented by JLL’s Peter Riguardi, Paul Glickman, Cynthia Wasserberger and Ben Bass as well as RFR’s own AJ Camhi and Paul Milunec. Temasek was represented by Newmark’s Brian Goldman, Neil Goldmacher and Matthew Lorberbaum.
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George Comfort & Sons' 200 Madison Ave. has a new tenant in fitness club TMPL, which plans to open a 26K SF flagship location, according to a release. TMPL would occupy the ground floor and basement levels later this year after the landlord finishes renovations. TMPL was repped by Cushman & Wakefield’s Neil Seth, Kenji Ota, Kathryn Cruz and Jennifer Konefsky in the deal, which lasts for 15 years, while George Comfort & Sons had in-house representation from Peter Duncan, Matt Coudert and Andrew Conrad.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Silverstein Properties and Cantor Fitzgerald scored a $165M construction loan from Banco Inbursa for a multifamily project that will be built on a 63K SF lot in Astoria, Queens, according to a release. The joint venture, which has worked on deals together for more than two decades, plans to build a 354-unit property consisting of mostly one- and two-bedroom apartments with 200 parking spots, 25K SF of retail and 20K SF of amenities. A quarter of the units will be reserved as affordable housing. Silverstein started construction last spring and expects to start move-ins in spring 2024.
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Webster Bank has agreed to provide a $33.6M gap financing loan to Aurora Capital and William Gottlieb Real Estate for their 2 Ninth Ave. property, Commercial Observer reports. Tenants at the six-story, mixed-use office property include venture capital companies Elephant and Fifth Wall Ventures. Originally built in 1913, the property is also home to Lucid Motors and previously included the restaurant Bagatelle as a tenant.
TOP SALES
Maverick Real Estate Partners is now in charge of the Chetrit Group’s unfinished hotel close to Penn Station, valued at $104.5M, PincusCo first reported. Chetrit reportedly transferred the hotel property, located at 255 West 34th St., on Jan. 31, according to The Real Deal. The transfer follows a lengthy legal entanglement between Chetrit and Maverick, with the latter suing the former for failing to complete the planned 323-key, 33-story hotel by the end of 2021, per the loan agreement. The site has been with Chetrit since 2014 and construction began in 2019. Maverick later came on board with a $110M loan that it sought payment for one month after its maturity date last May.
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Two parking lots and a 33K SF retail property located at 32-02 Linden Place in Flushing, Queens, have sold for $24.6M to Vernon 298 LLC, The Real Deal reports. The properties were last sold in 1995 for an unknown sum to Rainier Group of New York LLC.
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Movie studio A24 surprised its audience by purchasing the West Village’s 100-year-old Cherry Lane Theatre for $10M, The Real Deal reported. The 38 Commerce St. theater has a storied past featuring as the stage for playwrights including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill, and is the oldest continuously running off-Broadway venue in NYC, per TRD. The sale is the first time the property has changed hands in three decades.
