This Week’s N.Y. Deal Sheet
Higher education institutions were responsible for some of the largest leases this week in New York City, while financing activity was dominated by a slew of multifamily loans.
TOP LEASES
Greater New York Mutual Insurance has signed a 52K SF lease at the Empire State Building, Bloomberg reported. The insurer’s headquarters is currently located at 200 Madison Ave., and it is unclear whether the lease will see the firm relocate or open a new office in the Empire State Realty Trust-owned building. The iconic property saw significant leasing activity in 2023, signing deals over 100K SF with tenants such as LinkedIn even as large parts of Manhattan’s leasing market struggled.
***
LaGuardia Community College, part of the City University of New York, has renewed its 210K SF lease at 30-20 Thomson Ave. at the Queens Atrium Corporate Center for another decade, according to a release. The community college has called the eight-story Long Island City office building home for the last 15 years and occupies the first, second, third and lower floors. The Feil Organization owns the property and was represented in-house by Randall Briskin, while Savills’ Ira Schuman represented LaGuardia Community College.
***
The Pratt Institute signed a 63K SF lease at Dock 72, BXP and Rudin’s 675K SF office building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The private college’s fine art and photography graduate facilities will occupy the entire third floor of the 16-story building, moving from the Pfizer Building at 630 Flushing Ave. Pratt represented itself in the transaction, while BXP Senior Vice President Andrew Levin and Rudin Senior Vice President Robert Steinman represented building ownership.
***
Silverstein Properties has signed two tenants at 1177 Sixth Ave. for a total of 48K SF, according to a release. New York-based private equity firm Mill Point Capital Partners signed an almost six-year expansion for the 44th floor of the 47-story building, giving Mill Point a total of 23K SF. The YMCA Retirement Fund also signed a 13-year lease in the building for 25K SF, taking the entire 16th floor as it moves its headquarters from Silverstein’s 120 Broadway to the firm's Midtown building. Cushman & Wakefield’s Bruce Mosler, Lou D’Avanzo, Ethan Silverstein, Anthony Lopresti, Peter Kerans and Caroline Collins repped building ownership in the transactions, while Newmark’s Erik Harris repped Mill Point and CBRE’s Laurence Briody, Lauren Crowley, Courtney Hughson and Eric Sears represented the YMCA Retirement Fund.
***
Rockefeller Group has signed Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse to a renewal for its 25K SF restaurant in Rockefeller Center, Commercial Observer reported. The restaurant has agreed to stay put at 1121 Sixth Ave., where it has been for the past 25 years, for another two decades. CBRE’s Eric Gelber and Jordan Kaplan repped the landlord, along with Rockefeller Group’s own Bill Edwards, Marisa Gadlin and Gisele de Chabert. The steakhouse was repped by JLL’s Patrick Smith, Corey Zolcinski and Matthew Schuss.
TOP SALES
A 237-unit rent-stabilized property in the Bronx has sold at a 32% discount, Commercial Observer reported. The property at 1500 Noble Ave., known as Noble Mansion, was sold by Related Fund Management, the private equity arm of Related Cos., for $26M to investor Yechiel Newhouse. Related paid $38M for the 17-story property a decade ago. Noble Mansion was built in 1965 and has a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Ariel Property Advisors’ Victor Sozio, Shimon Shkury, Jason Gold, Daniel Mahfar and Gabriel Elyaszadeh brokered the deal on behalf of Related.
***
Japanese publisher Kodansha USA has purchased 25 E. 22nd St., a five-story office tower in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, for $27M, PincusCo reports. The seller was the nonprofit Foundation for a Just Society, which was founded by Audrey Cappell, the daughter of the billionaire owner of the Renaissance Technologies quantum hedge fund, James Simons. Cappell was the signatory on the sale. Her nonprofit bought the building in 2014 for $26.9M. The buyer is a division of one of Japan’s largest publishing houses.
***
Another chapter is unfolding at 115 W. 31st St., the office property bought by investor Tony Park and South Korean media company MediaWill in September last year for $37M. This week, retail investor Hi Jong Lee purchased the 33K SF retail condo at the base of the office tower for $30M, PincusCo reported. The retail space was described as the “crown jewel” of property by broker PD Properties’ Elad Dror in last year’s sale. The office portion of the tower has an address of 110 W. 32nd St., while the retail portion has an address on the next street over.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Centurion Real Estate Partners nabbed a $170M refinancing from Macquarie Group for 58 unsold condo units in an Upper West Side development, PincusCo reported. The property at 212 W. 72nd St. has a total of 196 residential units. The refinancing adds a $38.8M gap loan to the outstanding debt on the property, which stands at $131.7M. The previous loan on the property came from KKR Real Estate Finance, which gave the developers $204M in 2019 for the acquisition and replaced the prior debt on the building, Commercial Observer reported at the time.
***
Monadnock Development and Project Renewal scored a $102.9M construction loan from NYC Housing Development Corp. and New Providence for two properties in Turtle Bay, PincusCo reported. There is one active new construction project in place for a 106-unit building on the lots, which have addresses of 217 and 215 E. 45th St., although the development hasn't yet received a permit. The developers are planning a 21-story building that will serve as a homeless shelter and include affordable housing, Crain’s New York Business reported in April. The estimated cost of the project, which will provide 171 beds in its shelter and 130 long-term affordable housing units, was $125M at the time, with the city gifting the land to the developers and granting a 20-year tax abatement.
***
Invesco has agreed to lend $47.2M to the Carlyle Group as a gap mortgage for a multifamily development in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Crain’s reported. The loan covers 171 Madison St. and 82 Utica Ave. Carlyle purchased the four-unit 171 Madison St. for $4M in August last year, PincusCo reported, while property records show that the two-unit 82 Utica Ave. changed hands for $1.3M in January 2023. No new plans appear to have been filed with the NYC Department of Buildings for modifications or renovations to either property.
***
Private equity firm Northwind Group has agreed to lend $22M to a joint venture of Summit Assets and Winchester Equities, which is planning a 92-unit multifamily conversion in downtown Newark, New Jersey, according to a release. Northwind is the lender on the first mortgage loan for 202 Washington St., a five-story office building that is being converted into a 10-story multifamily property. Once complete, the property will feature studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. MSCO Capital Advisors’ Zach Mordechai and Ben Frances arranged the financing, while Polsinelli Law Firm’s John Vavas represented Northwind in the deal.
