This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet
While February was a slow but steady month for leasing in New York City, March has started with a whimper, with no signed leases reported larger than 50K SF.
TOP LEASES
Knotel is continuing with its plan for expansion in New York City, announcing three new Manhattan leases that collectively span nearly 30K SF. The “Uber of office leasing” took nearly 13K SF at 224 West 30th St. last week, Commercial Observer reports. The asking rents were reportedly $52/SF. An ABS Partners Real Estate team led by James Caseley represented the landlord, Beijing Shokai Group, while CJ Net Inc.’s Jessica Tu and Mirador Real Estate's Aziz Kabbaj represented the tenant. The startup also announced it will take 10K SF on the fifth floor of A. Ruth & Sons Real Estate Co.’s 102 Madison Ave. Signature Partners’ Andy Weiss represented Knotel. The startup also announced a management agreement for 6K SF at 115 West 30th St., in a deal that was signed last month.
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The XX House, a co-working space for female creatives, is making its home in a 15K SF space at CW Realty’s 61 North 11th St. in Williamsburg. Lee & Associates' Corey Horowitz and Justin Myers represented the landlord, while a team led by Wendy Maitland of Brown Harris Stevens represented the tenant. The asking rent was in the high $60s/SF. It is one of the largest office signings in Williamsburg in many years, according to Horowitz.
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Tech company Riskified has signed up for 27K SF at Stellar Management and Imperium Capital’s 220 Fifth Ave., Commercial Observer reports. The deal is for 10 years. The firm had taken space on the 13th floor last month temporarily, and has now leased the entire 15th and 16th floors on a long-term basis.
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Flexport, a freight-logistics company based in San Francisco, is taking 23K SF at 111 West 19th St., a move that will more than double its office space in the city. Right now, the startup has 11K SF at 250 Park Ave. South, but since setting up in NYC in 2016, its employee base has grown from three people to 70, Crain’s New York Business reports. Most of the employees at the firm, which does shipping, customs and tracking logistics, are based in the San Francisco office. The new NYC location in Chelsea has space for 200, and Flexport plans to expand to 175 people in that location, the company told Crain’s.
TOP SALES
Penthouse unit 94B at 432 Park Ave. is off the market, selling to an entity called Soarhigh Global Ltd. for $34.2M, according to city property records. The unit had been asking for north of $40M, so the sale represents a tacit acknowledgement by landlords Macklowe Properties and CIM Group that the luxury market is not what it was when the building started selling units. The buyer was represented by attorney Ilyse Dolgenas.
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The Orbach Group has sold its apartment building at 204 West 108th St. on the Upper West Side, known as The Canterbury. The New Jersey-based landlord sold the six-story, 48-unit rental building to Arkar Inc. for $32.5M in a deal brokered by Avison Young's Sam Schertz.
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Last week, the Orbach Group sold a handful of Upper West Side apartment buildings not far from The Canterbury, for a combined $116M, The Real Deal reports. The four buildings, all on 107th Street, were acquired by Isaac Kassirer, one of the most active buyers of multifamily properties at a time when few are trading at all. The buildings, at 203, 210, 220 and 230 West 107th St., total 219 apartments.
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Bulova has sold its New York City property in Queens at One Bulova Ave., also known as 26-15 Boody St., for $25.4M to Terreno Realty Corp. The single-story property, also registered to Citizen Watch Co., is in Queens' Woodside neighborhood. The sale was brokered by Eastern Consolidated.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Oxford Properties, after buying Aalto 57 in the Sutton Place neighborhood, has secured a $180M loan from Deutsche Bank to finalize the purchase. The Canadian developer, most famous in New York for co-developing Hudson Yards with Related, paid $278M for the residential tower at 1065 Second Ave., Commercial Observer reports. It is a fixed-rate, interest-only CMBS loan and matures in 10 years.
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Certes Partners, Metropolitan Acquisitions and United Management have secured a $71.5M construction loan from Goldman Sachs for their planned Upper West Side condominium project. The 19-story building at 212 West 95th St. will be designed by CetraRuddy and RKTB Architects, and Zevi Schwartz of Black Wolf Capital brokered the loan.
