This Week's NY Deal Sheet
Samson Management has bought 92 3rd St (aka 68-80 3rd St), a warehouse-to-office conversion in Gowanus, for $73M. The seller was PWR, a JV between LIVWRK and FirstMark Capital.
LIVWRK (founder & CEO Asher Abehsera, snapped this spring at a Bisnow event) wasn’t looking to sell, but when presented with the opportunity to cash out at $50M above what the JV paid for the site just last year, LIVWRK principal Aaron Lemma said it was a “prudent exit,” the Commercial Observer reports. Brokers on the deal haven’t been released. The building’s proximity to a Whole Foods, which opened across the street in 2013, has helped it establish a foothold in a neighborhood with no significant office market. Tenants signed on include Cowork.rs, with 42k SF, and Genius Media with 43k SF. Samson has no other holdings in Brooklyn.
EXECS
Douglas Elliman Development Marketing has named Leslie Wilson its new senior EVP and managing director. Leslie’s most recent post was at Related, where she oversaw a $2B portfolio of condo developments.
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For the first time in its history, RKF is naming brokers as vice chairmen. Karen Bellatoni, Robert Cohen, Barry Fishbach, Jeff Fishman and Ariel Schuster have been tapped for promotion.
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TH Real Estate, a subsidiary of TIAA-CREF, has appointed James Murphy as managing director for its client capital group in its North American business. Jim comes to TH Real Estate from Prudential, where he spent 17 years in product development, client relations and fundraising for Fortune 100 corporate and public pension funds.
Joseph Ceccarelli has joined the NYC office of Wilson Elser as a partner. Joe was a founding and managing partner of Ceccarelli Weprin, specializing in business and commercial real estate litigation and transactional work. He also served as treasurer for now State Assemblyman David Weprin during four consecutive election campaigns for Finance Committee Chair of the City Council from 2002 to ‘09.
SALES
A $32M stake in Georgetown Shopping Center in Bergen Beach, Brooklyn, future home of Brooklyn’s second Fairway supermarket, has changed hands. Rochelle Pazer, who had held it, sold it back to the brother-sister pair of Howard Mintz and Susan Mintz-Bello, according to The Real Deal.
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Infinity Real Estate and Seven Equity Group bought a 6k SF retail condo at 205 Bleecker St for $9.7M. Eastern Consolidated's Evan Street repped the buyers and Eastern's Max Hakim repped the seller, Forest Hill Property Group.
718 West 171st St, a 22-unit, 21,735 SF rental building in Washington Heights, changed hands for $7M. Cignature Realty’s Lazer Sternhell and Peter Vanderpool repped both the buyer, Heritage Realty Services, and the seller, Haven Holding LLC.
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The Strategic Agency sold a 3,735 SF office condo at 70 West 36th St for $3.5M. Marcus & Millichap associate broker and head of The Nissani Group, Jeff Nissani, brokered the sale.
LEASES
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has signed a new lease expanding from 35k SF to a total of 90k SF at 3 Park Ave. The asking rent was $63/SF. Colliers’ David Glassman and Joseph Cabrera repped Houghton Mifflin. Marc Horowitz repped the landlord, Cohen Brothers Realty, in-house.
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Silver Suites Offices signed a 44k SF lease at 4 WTC. The deal was done without brokers.
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IMG Worldwide signed a 22,500 SF lease at 304 Park Ave S. CBRE’s Michael Laginestra, Rocco Laginestra, Christopher Mansfield and Brian Dooley repped IMG Worldwide; Howard Tenenbaum and Gary Rosen repped the landlord, SL Green, in-house.
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Move Loot inked a 20k SF industrial lease at 57 Caton Pl in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. CBRE’s William Domsky repped Move Loot, and Broadway Realty’s Elliot Bogod repped the landlord, 57 Caton Partners.
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Joffrey Ballet Center signed a 10-year, 15,500 SF lease at 47-16 Austell Pl in LIC. Joffrey was repped by Norman Bobrow & Co’s Nancy Grod and Carol Gomez. Cushman & Wakefield’s Ethan Silverstein and Corey Horowitz, alongside JRT Realty’s Ellen Israel, Kristen Morgan and Lauren Calandriello, repped the landlord, Vanbarton Group.
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Kepler Group signed a five-year, 15,360 SF lease at 6 East 32nd St. Coldwell Banker Commercial Alliance’s Barry Lewen and Stacy Kelly repped Kepler Group and Jason Vacker repped the landlord, Himmel + Meringoff, in-house.
PadillaCRT signed a 15-year lease for 15k SF at 4 WTC. CBRE’s David Kleinhandler and Jared Freede repped PadillaCRT, along with Davis & Gilbert’s Mark Maltz and Amanda Kinney. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s Russell Wohl and Ryan Knutson repped the landlord.
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The 88, a bespoke digital agency, signed a 10-year, 7,240 SF lease at 26 Broadway. Lee & Accociates’ Dennis Someck, Justin Myers and Josh Pernice repped The 88. Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Howard Kessler and Jamie Jacobs repped the landlord, the Chetrit Group.
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H&H Bagels has signed a 3,200 SF lease on Columbus Avenue between 85th and 86th on the UWS. RKF’s Brandon Eisenman repped H&H. Cushman & Wakefield’s Michael Azarian and David Chkheidze repped the landlord, 85th Columbus Corp.
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Bluemercury signed a 3k SF retail lease at 1566 Third Ave. RFK’s Tess Jacoby and Auber Group’s John Auber repped the tenant. The landlord, Thor Equities, repped itself.
FINANCING
Vornado closed on a $580M refi for 100 West 33rd St, a 1.1M SF office and retail property in Herald Square. The publicly traded REIT has not released the name of the lender or any further info. Vornado also refinanced the building’s mortgage for $325M in 2012 and $232M in 2007.
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Rockrose closed on a $270M construction loan for 43-15 Hunter St, a 974-unit rental tower in LIC and Rockrose’s first 80/20 residential development outside of Manhattan. Wells Fargo is the lead lender, with TD Bank and Capital One as contributing lenders. A mix of tax-exempt and taxable bonds issued by the New York State Housing Finance Agency and sold to the banks made the deal possible. The total cost of the project is $543M. Rockrose negotiated the deal directly with the lenders.
