This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet
The post-July 4th hangover hasn't hit New York City's commercial real estate market over the past week, with tenants signing for sizable chunks of office space and multifamily lending remaining strong.
TOP LEASES
CBRE has extended its 180K SF lease at 200 Park Ave., keeping its NYC headquarters operating in the building while taking over its management, according to a release. CBRE has been in the property, known as the MetLife building, for 36 years. Its new lease goes to 2037. The building is 97% leased.
With the new deal, CBRE will assume control of leasing, property and asset management in the building. The Irvine Co. also secured full ownership of the tower after buying out its partner, Tishman Speyer. CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe and Howard Fiddle will oversee the leasing team, Tom Lloyd and Pia Silvestri will head up property management and Joe Mancuso and Ed Guiltinan of the brokerage’s investment management will take on asset management for Irvine Co. Investments will also be made to CBRE’s current office space, and the brokerage will get its own branded space in the lobby.
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Williams Equities has signed a 46K SF lease with bilingual independent French-American bilingual school The École at 120 E. 23rd St., according to a release. The school will occupy part of the ground floor and the entire second and third floors of the 12-story property for the start of the fall 2025 semester and will have its own private entrance. Colliers’ Michael Berger arranged the deal, per the release. Williams Equities’ Robert Getreu repped the landlord in-house, per Commercial Observer.
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Silverstein Properties has signed two leases totaling 58K SF at 1177 Sixth Ave., according to a release. The Trustees of Columbia University is moving its headquarters to 15K SF on the 24th floor of the 47-story property. Law firm Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, a tenant since 2011, is relocating within the building to 42K SF on floors 41 through 43. A Cushman & Wakefield team led by Bruce Mosler along with a Silverstein Properties leasing team repped the landlord in the deals. JLL’s Greg McCavera, Michael Berg and Sofia Bruno repped Faegre Drinker, while Cushman & Wakefield’s Mark Weiss and Keaton McCann repped the Columbia trustees. Other tenants in the building include law firm Kramer Levin, private equity firm Mill Point Capital Partners and the YMCA Retirement Fund.
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The Durst Organization has renewed investment brokerage Charles Schwab for 23K SF at 1133 Sixth Ave. for 11 years, Commercial Observer reported. Charles Schwab has occupied space in the building since 2014. The landlord recently put $40M toward capital improvements after getting a $1.1B CMBS-backed refinancing package for the building in 2021. Asking rents were $105 per SF in the deal, with Durst repped in-house by Thomas Bow, Rocco Romeo and Nora Caliban.
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Vornado Realty Trust has signed marketing company Cheil to 37K SF at its Penn 1 office tower, Commercial Observer reported. The Korean marketing company will relocate from its Meatpacking District office on a 15-year lease. Cheil, which is owned by Samsung, occupies the entire 55K SF 837 Washington St. building, but this move will reduce its space by around 33%. Samsung is also a Penn 1 tenant, occupying 36K SF in the 2.5M SF, 57-story tower. Nick Farmakis and Kirill Azovtsev of Savills repped Cheil in the deal, while Vornado’s Josh Glick, Jared Silverman and Anthony Cugini provided in-house representation for the landlord.
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IT firm Nagarro has signed a sublease for 41K SF with Orchard Technologies at L&L Holding Co.’s 195 Broadway, Commercial Observer reported. Nagarro plans to relocate from 30 Vesey St. for the nine-year deal, which had asking rents in the low $40s per SF. It’s unclear how much space Nagarro has at 30 Vesey St. or how much space in 195 Broadway Orchard it plans to keep. Other tenants in the 29-story building include HR company Lattice and fintech company Payoneer. Gary Ceder and Peter Trivelas of Cushman & Wakefield repped Orchard in the sublease deal. Rob Wizenberg and Peter Shikar of CBRE repped Nagarro.
TOP FINANCING
Madison Realty Capital has received financing totaling $129.6M for a mixed-use development in the East Village, according to a release. Apollo Global Management provided a $102M senior loan and Lionheart Strategic Management chipped in $27.6M toward the luxury tower at 644 E. 14th St. The developer expects the sum to help it finish the project within two years. The 24-story development’s foundations are now complete, and it will eventually feature 3K SF of commercial and community space and 196 units of housing, including around 30 units reserved as affordable housing. The development is eligible for the now-expired 421-a tax break, Crain’s New York Business reported. Its development has also been controversial: structural issues as a result of the construction at 644 E. 14th St. led to the eviction of residents of the building next door in mid-December last year, the New York Post reported.
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Atlas Capital Group has secured a $985M construction loan for two apartment towers it is developing with Zeckendorf Development and Baupost Group at 80 Clarkson St., the New York Post reported. The sum came from Cale Street Partners and Farallon Capital Management, according to the Post, which cited anonymous sources. The loan has not yet appeared in the city's public building records. One tower is expected to complete in 2026 and the other in 2027, with a podium base connecting the two buildings. A 175-unit senior housing development on the same site isn't covered by the financing deal.
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Lam Group and Exact Capital scored a $148M refi for The Victoria, a 30-story property in Harlem, from Aareal Capital, according to a release. The multitower building is part of the Victoria Theater redevelopment and is the neighborhood’s tallest building. It has 191 luxury residential units and is also home to 23K SF of retail space and a 211-key Marriott-branded Renaissance hotel. The project delivered in the third quarter of last year, and the new loan will go toward operations and future improvements. Walker & Dunlop’s Aaron Appel, Keith Kurland, Jonathan Schwartz, Adam Schwartz, Ari Hirt, and William Herring brokered the deal for the borrowers.
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The Hakimian Organization affiliate Eight West nabbed a $175M loan from Apollo and Lionheart Strategic Management, according to a release. The construction take-out loan will finance a new 12-story development with 364 units at 72-01 Queens Blvd. in Woodside that the developer is calling Sola. The mixed-use project also has 28K SF of amenity space and is scheduled to open on Monday. Newmark’s Jordan Roeschlaub, Nick Scribani, Peter Griesinger and Max Ralby arranged the deal for the borrower.
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Izaki Group notched a $72M construction loan from Valley National Bank for a planned Greenwich Village condo tower at 525 Sixth Ave., Commercial Observer reported. The 13-story tower is expected to deliver in 2026. Izaki Group bought the property in 2021 for $46M and filed plans in November 2022 to turn two four-story buildings into a 71-unit property.
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Hudson Cos. and St. Nicks Alliance have landed a $194.6M deal in construction financing from the NYC Housing Development Corp., PincusCo reported. The sum will fund a 310-unit affordable housing development at 89 Maspeth Ave. in East Williamsburg. The development will have 91 units reserved for New Yorkers making between 60% and 80% of the area median income and 219 units at below 60% AMI.
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Affinius Capital has agreed to lend $112.7M to a joint venture between Rose Associates and Battery Global Advisors to refinance a recently delivered Yonkers multifamily development, according to a release. Alexander Crossing, a 440-unit property at 57 Alexander St. is close to the Yonkers Metro North train station and sits on the Hudson River waterfront. A Walker & Dunlop team led by Jonathan Schwartz, Aaron Appel, Sean Reimer, Keith Kurland, Adam Schwartz and Sean Bastian arranged the financing.
TOP SALES
Hines has acquired two apartment buildings in Jersey City in what CBRE says is the largest single multifamily transaction in New Jersey in more than five years. The Houston-based developer paid $221.5M to funds managed by J.P. Morgan Asset Management to acquire the Lenox and Quinn apartment buildings, which combined hold 408 units. CBRE's Jeffrey Dunne and Stuart MacKenzie brokered the deal, which also includes a 257-space parking garage.
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Ryco Capital has acquired three East Village multifamily properties from Jonis Realty for $29M, Commercial Observer reported. Jonis has owned the properties, 127-129 Second Ave. and 36 St. Marks Place, for more than two decades. Altogether, the buildings span 64 residential units and 10 retail units. The properties have 411 housing violations across 64 apartments, and tenants have sued Jonis’ property management firm Citi-Urban several times to get repairs approved over the last decade. Ryco plans to place the properties under the management of its own firm, Ryco NYC. Marcus & Millichap’s Joe Koicim, Logan Markley, Zan Colin and Matt Berger brokered the sale.
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Abraham Posner has sold a brand new 29-unit apartment building to Ben-Josef Group Holdings for $20M, Commercial Observer reported. The nine-story property at 82 Fourth Ave. in Boerum Hill has nine units set aside for residents earning up to 130% of area median income. Construction wrapped last year after Posner bought a duo of three-story properties on the site in late 2020 for $2.6M, demolished them and built the apartments in their place.
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Judlau Contracting has sold its longtime home in College Point, Queens, to The Hallen Construction Co., Commercial Observer reported. Judlau, which works on infrastructure projects with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, sold the two-story 26-15 Ulmer St. for $31.8M. The property has 122K SF and has been owned by Judlau since 2016.
