This Week’s N.Y. Deal Sheet: Weill Cornell To Turn Sotheby's HQ Into Research Labs
Manhattan’s office leasing and sales markets showed signs of heating up as the year draws to a close, with several big deals signed in spite of a week shortened by Thanksgiving break.
TOP LEASES
Weill Cornell Medicine has signed a lease to turn 200K SF at 1334 York Ave., Sotheby's soon-to-be-former headquarters, into a medical research facility, the institution announced. Sotheby's plans to vacate the 500K SF building in 2025 after buying the Breuer Building from the Whitney Museum earlier this year.
The renovations to the Lenox Hill office building, across the street from Weill Cornell's main campus building, will see the build-out of wet and dry lab space, as well as offices and conference rooms. Weill Cornell plans to occupy the five-floor space in phases starting in late 2026. Eventually, 700 faculty and staff could occupy the building. Sotheby’s recently acquired a 250K SF space in Long Island City, while a spokesperson told Bloomberg it has also leased space near the Breuer Building on the Upper West Side for offices. It is unclear what will happen to the lower four floors of 1334 York; Weill signed for the fifth through ninth floors and has an option to lease the 10th floor as well.
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Financial technology firm Payoneer has signed a 42K SF lease at L&L Holding Co.’s 195 Broadway. The 10-year lease will see Payoneer relocate from its current digs at 150 West 30th St. to the historic property in Lower Manhattan, with occupancy expected to begin in spring 2024. The 1.1M SF 195 Broadway was once the global headquarters of the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. and was redeveloped in 2017. Retail tenants include Nobu Downtown and Anthropologie, while other office tenants include publisher HarperCollins, real estate tech firm Orchard and luxury designer Gucci. Savills’ Jeffrey Peck, Daniel Horowitz, Jacob Stern and Roi Shleifer repped Payoneer in the deal, while L&L Holding was repped in-house by James Marcellino.
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Law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has signed the first lease at the renovated 295 Fifth Ave. in Midtown South, taking 123K SF. The owners of the 700K SF Textile Building, Tribeca Investment Group, PGIM Real Estate and Meadow Partners, have wrapped up a $350M renovation. Quinn Emanuel is moving from 51 Madison Ave., making it the largest Midtown South relocation this year. CBRE’s David Hollander, Peter Turchin, Mary Ann Tighe, Brett Shannon, Liz Lash and Hayden Pascal represented the landlords, while CBRE’s Lewis Miller, Greg Maurer-Hollaender and Cara Chaye represented the tenant.
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AmTrust has signed Fitness International to a 37K SF lease at 59 Maiden Lane in the Financial District. The health club plans to use the space for a new concept called Club Studios, which has a focus on amenities and boutique fitness classes. The space is at the base of a 1M SF office tower and close to luxury residential properties including 8 Spruce St., 19 Dutch St. and 130 William St. The landlord was represented by Masonre’s David Abrams, Eliot Goldschmidt, Jeff Jacobson and Brandon Miller, while the tenant was repped by The Shopping Center Group’s Chase Welles and RealSource Group’s John Kalamaras.
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Multinational accounting and consulting services firm MarcumAsia is set to expand at The Feil Organization’s 7 Penn Plaza, according to a release. The lease includes a renewal of the firm’s existing 6K SF and the addition of almost 9K SF to its space in the 18-story building at 370 Seventh Ave. KC Engineering and Land Surveying and coffee chain Starbucks are also tenants at the property. Norman Bobrow & Co.’s Steve Kaplan repped the tenant, while Andrew Wiener and David Turino repped the landlord in-house.
TOP SALES
Wells Fargo has closed on its acquisition of the massive former Hudson Yards retail space that had briefly been the location of Neiman Marcus' first Manhattan department store. The bank was under contract to acquire the 400K SF at 20 Hudson Yards for $550M, Bloomberg reported in September. Wells Fargo announced the purchase on Monday. A spokesperson confirmed to Bisnow the deal has closed but declined to comment on the price.
Wells Fargo bought the space from developers Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group, from whom it previously purchased a 500K SF office condo in 30 Hudson Yards, where it also owns a majority stake in the observation deck. Related will spend the next three years converting the retail space into high-end offices for Wells Fargo, overlooking Hudson Yards' central plaza. It plans to move 2,000 workers from its offices at 150 East 42nd St. in late 2026, doubling down on the Far West Side. The transformation is expected to deliver features such as collaborative workspaces, as well as amenities such as an all-day coffee bar and a dedicated 10th Avenue entrance. Newmark’s Adam Spies and Doug Harmon brokered the sale.
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Bronx-based Lemle and Wolff Cos. sold a prewar apartment property with 81 units, Crain’s New York Business reported. The Fort George property at 75 Wadsworth Terrace changed hands for $9.3M. The new owner is Jesse Deutch, founder and president of firm Two80 Real Estate Ventures, which also acquired a 32-unit walk-up in Washington Heights from Barberry Rose Management for $7M in September, according to previous reporting from PincusCo.
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Elie Pariente’s EMP Capital Group has acquired two more properties on Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue for $25.6M from Nikolaos Nikolaidis, PincusCo reported. The properties, 870-878 Atlantic Ave. and 888 Atlantic Ave., are three blocks away from EMP's multifamily development at 1034-1042 Atlantic Ave. The buyer picked up the new properties when it acquired a contract that Y&T Development’s Joel Teitelbaum had signed with Nikolaidis’ Odyssey Realty Corp. EMP has worked with Y&T Development on the 1034-1042 Atlantic Ave. development, where the duo had to increase the percentage of units designated as affordable housing in order to have the land rezoned.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
SMA Equities nabbed a $17.4M loan from Societe Generale to replace debt on two walk-up buildings on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, PincusCo reported. The debt replaces a $16M loan on the residential buildings, with Societe Generale’s sum retiring a loan from Santander Bank. The properties are 305 Broome St. and 131 Orchard St.
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Construction firm ZHL Group scored a $24.8M refinancing for an apartment portfolio in Brooklyn’s Kensington neighborhood, Crain’s New York Business reported. The financing came from 360 Capital Management and covers a 76-unit development at 424, 428 and 432 East Ninth St., PincusCo reported.
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Bank of Princeton has agreed to loan $20.7M on a 49-unit residential development in Astoria, PincusCo reported. The development is located at 27-16 21st St. Plans for the 34K SF property were permitted in May 2022. Approximately one month later, Mordechai Schwimmer acquired the property for $7.7M. Schwimmer’s new loan from the Bank of Princeton replaces the prior debt on the building, which came from BridgeCity Capital and totaled $19.1M.
