This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet
It was a slow week for New York City commercial real estate deals as the eyes of the nation descend upon a Lower Manhattan courthouse for the historic arrest and arraignment of former President Donald Trump.
TOP SALES
Rockrose Development bought 180 Remsen St. and two nearby parcels of land in Downtown Brooklyn for $160M, PincusCo reports. St. Francis College sold the five-building campus from which it operated from 1960 to 2022 before moving to 179 Livingston St. in Downtown Brooklyn last year, it said in a press release. A Cushman & Wakefield team led by Dan O’Brien brokered the sale on behalf of the private Catholic university.
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The Chetrit Organization sold its office tower at 850 Third Ave. to lender HPS Investment Partners for $266M. The Jacob Chetrit-run firm paid $422M for the building in 2019, and it was reportedly facing foreclosure after falling behind on a $177M securitized mortgage. The firm had scored a $320M refinancing deal, including $220M in senior debt, from HPS.
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Tahl Propp Equities sold 87 unsold condominiums to the Pears Brothers for $22.5M, PincusCo reported. The units are at 1330 Fifth Ave. and 1325 Fifth Ave. in Harlem. The billionaire brothers, based in the UK, used Jober Upper Fifth Ave. LLC to make the purchase, per the publication. The 87 units have 98K SF of built space, and Mark Zborovsky brokered the deal.
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Eli Partners spent $31.6M on 217 Thompson St. in Greenwich Village, Crain’s New York Business reports. The multifamily property has 45 units in seven stories, according to Streeteasy. Steven Gautier was the seller.
TOP LEASES
Claims Conference, a nonprofit for Holocaust survivors, extended its lease at 1359 Broadway. The rents in the 11-year extension were $62 per SF, Commercial Observer reported. The organization has been in the Empire State Realty Trust-owned building since 2007, but it is moving within the building to a new, 34K SF spread. Savills’ Jason Schwartzenberg brokered the deal for the tenant. Jordan Berger of ESRT arranged the landlord side in-house, alongside Paul Amrich, Neil King, Emily Chabrier, Meghan Allen and Shay Kenney of CBRE.
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Bold Charter School leased 82K SF at 1472 Boston Road in the Crotona East Park neighborhood of the Bronx, OPEN Impact Real Estate said in a press release. The ground-up building is owned by Boston Partners LLC, an entity controlled by investor and developer Joseph Riegler, per The Real Deal. The deal is a 39-year leasehold condominium transaction. The school is expected to open for the 2025-2026 academic year. OPEN’s Lindsay Ornstein, Stephen Powers and Casey Noel, along with Thomas Hines of Transwestern, represented Bold.
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George Comfort & Sons has signed Securitas Security Services to a nearly 20K SF, 10-year lease at its 498 Seventh Ave. office tower. The cybersecurity firm will be moving from 1412 Broadway to a section of the 14th floor, according to press release from the landlord. Andrew Conrad and Matt Coudert represented George Comfort & Sons in-house, while CBRE's David Opper and Eddie Sisca represented the tenant.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
CBSK Developers, Brooklyn Bazaar and Aulder Capital locked in $47.5M in financing for the Jacob Riis Park bathhouse, Crain’s New York Business reported. The funding is split between a $32.5M construction loan from Procida and a $15M historic tax credit equity investment from Foss & Co., per the publication. Brooklyn Bazaar and CBSK inked a 60-year lease for the bathhouse with the National Park Service last year and are planning a $65M renovation of the historic property.
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PIMCO loaned $94M to Wildflower Ltd. for its industrial development in Queens. The loan is floating rate, according to PincusCo, and the property — which Wildflower is co-developing with Drake Real Estate Partners — is at 28-02 Whitestone Expressway. Walker & Dunlop’s Jonathan Schwartz, Aaron Appel, Adam Schwartz, Keith Kurland and Ari Hirt arranged the transaction, which also included a $49M equity placement, per Commercial Observer.
