This Week’s N.Y. Deal Sheet
Activity was muted in New York City this week, with leases few and far between as a shaky financial environment curtails appetite for risk among lenders and buyers alike.
TOP LEASES
Kamber Management Co.’s Tower 45, at 120 West 45th St., has signed several leases totaling 36K SF, according to a release. South Korean bank Nonghyup Bank took 8K SF on the 19th floor, hedge fund Rivulet Capital took 5K SF on the 27th floor, AECOM Capital took 4K SF on the 36th floor, marine fuel supplier Minerva Bunkering took 3K SF on the 30th floor and hotel lender, owner and asset manager Ramsfield Hospitality took 2K SF on the 24th floor. Haircare brand Wella renewed its 10K SF lease for the entire third floor for 10 years, while Korean securities firm NH Investment expanded to take 6K SF on the 24th floor. Cushman & Wakefield repped AECOM and Nonghyup Bank, the latter of which also had representation from CBRE. CBRE also repped Wella, while Cresa repped Minerva Bunkering and broker Arthur Draznin repped Ramsfield Hospitality. JLL represented Kamber in all the transactions, with Paul Glickman, Diana Biasotti, Kyle Young and Kate Roush acting on behalf of the landlord. The building’s lobby was recently refurbished with integrated dispatch elevators and a touchless security system, and Kamber plans to open an upgraded exterior atrium this summer.
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GFP Real Estate has signed seven new tenants to a combined 12K SF at its 594 Broadway office property, located on the borderline between NoLita and SoHo. Design studio Atlason, a tenant since 2018, took 3K SF on the second floor in a direct lease brokered by GFP’s Neith Stone. Women's clothing store Argent signed a 2K SF fourth-floor lease for offices to accompany its nearby retail store at 93 Crosby St., with representation from Lee & Associates’ Dennis Someck and Rachel Kirkham. Four medical tenants and an architecture firm also signed 1K to 2K SF leases in the building.
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Marx Realty’s 10 Grand Central signed a new tenant to 7K SF, Commercial Observer reported. Telemedicine company Teladoc Health took a space on part of the 16th floor of the 35-story building, where asking rents were $82 per SF, and plans to relocate from its location on the corner of East 44th Street and Third Avenue this summer. Other tenants include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s production company, Seven Bucks Productions, and law firm Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss. JLL's Kevin Duffy and Sean Lynch handled the deal for Teladoc and their colleagues Mitchell Konsker, Kyle Young, Simon Landmann, Carlee Palmer and Thomas Swartz represented Marx Realty.
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Landlords GDS Development Management and Corem Property Group signed botox studio Peachy to 7K SF at 1245 Broadway, Commercial Observer reported. The space, which Peachy agreed to lease for five years, had asking rents of $130 per SF. Peachy has seven studios in New York City, and it will relocate from an undisclosed location that it is reportedly subleasing for the 18th floor of GDS’ 23-story building. Paul Amrich of CBRE represented GDS, while Brandon Cooperstock of Savills represented Peachy.
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Landlord Peter Fine has signed a new grocery tenant to 1000 Westchester Ave. in the Bronx, Commercial Observer reported. The 5K SF space, with asking rents of $50 per SF, will be occupied by Antillana SuperFood in a 20-year deal. The tenant plans to open a storefront in the corner location of the Fox Street and Westchester Avenue building — which totals 120K SF — by the end of the year, Fine said. The supermarket has four other locations in the borough, but this location will sit alongside Community Healthcare Network, a primary care provider and charter school Democracy Prep Public Schools.
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Electric scooter and vehicle rental company Revel has signed a 7K SF lease relocating its headquarters, Crain’s New York Business reported. Revel’s new home will be in Charney Cos. and Tavros Capital’s 275 South Fifth St. in Williamsburg, in the same project as luxury rental building The Dime Residences.
TOP SALES
Criterion Group has bought a Bronx industrial site for $16M, property records filed with the city show. The property, located at 1066 Zerega Ave., has an additional 156K SF buildable square feet. Its three buildings, which total 30K SF and are fully leased, have demolition clauses built into their contracts according to Bridge Property Advisors, which marketed the property for seller Zerega Six Star LLC. The property sits across from Innovo Property Group’s 700K SF multistory distribution center, one of the largest industrial properties in the Bronx. Criterion secured a $10.5M mortgage from Flagstar Bank to fund the purchase.
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A single-story retail property in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood has sold for $1.9M, according to a release. An unnamed local investor purchased 499 Fifth Ave., a 2K SF space built in 1971 and currently home to Aesthetic Laser Center, from owner Guy Morris. GFI Realty’s Moshe Goldberger repped Morris, while GFI colleague Kobi Zamir represented the buyer.
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A mixed-use building at 5008 Broadway in Inwood has sold for $10.6M to Efstathios Valiotis’ Alma Realty Corp., Crain’s New York Business reported. The seller of the six-story property built in 1934 was luxury multifamily rental owner Rose Associates. Alma Realty has found itself in trouble in recent years: In 2016, Valiotis was named the third-worst landlord in New York City by then-Public Advocate Letitia James and revealed to be a longtime donor to then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. Things haven’t eased up since: In January, Alma Realty was sued by the city for hundreds of open violations — including lead-based paint hazards, vermin infestations, unabated visible mold, unsafe wiring, missing or defective fire doors and facade defects, among numerous other hazards — across its 13-building portfolio.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Yitzchok Schwartz has scored a $24.6M loan from Popular Bank to build on a Bedford-Stuyvesant site he acquired last summer for $4.3M, PincusCo reports. The 88-96 Tompkins Ave. site will be developed as housing, Crain’s New York Business reports.
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Bank Hapoalim has agreed to provide a $40.5M mortgage to a condo tower in Downtown Flushing that was the second-most-expensive condo filing in 2021, property records show. The bank agreed to loan the sum to the owners of the NuSun Medical Tower, a nine-story, 113-unit tower located at 136-20 Maple Ave. The borrower is 4201 Main St LLC, an entity controlled by Dov Schlein, the managing partner of NuVerse Advisors.
