This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet
Leasing activity was dominated by coworking and flexible office space deals last week, with Spaces and Convene both signing up for their biggest locations in the city yet.
TOP LEASES
Coworking firm Spaces is taking 110K SF at the Chrysler Building, which will be the company’s biggest location in the city, The Real Deal reports. It will be taking part of the first floor, which will have private elevator access to the coworking space on the seventh, eighth and ninth floors.
JLL’s Jim Wenk, Brannan Moss and Kirill Azovtsev represented Spaces in the deal. Landlords Tishman Speyer and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council were represented by an in-house team of Greg Conen and Rob Weller.
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Convene signed a lease to open a 116K SF facility at RXR Realty’s 530 Fifth Ave., its largest location in the city. The company will market the space to businesses with 10 to 100 employees through its flexible office concept, Convene Workspace. The lease is its fourth with RXR, which is also an investor in the venture-backed conference-room-on-demand company.
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Duff & Phelps is taking 91K SF at Fisher Brothers’ Park Avenue Plaza at 55 East 52nd St., the landlord announced Monday. Savills Studley’s Mike Catalano, Greg Taubin, and Pete Cento of Savills Studley represented Duff & Phelps. Fisher Brothers was represented in-house by Marc Packman and Charles Laginestra. The lease is for 16 years and means the global advisory will have its headquarters on the 15th, 16th and 17th floors starting next year. Duff & Phelps had been subleasing 62K SF in the building since 2007.
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PR Consulting is taking 20K SF at 100 Wall St., The Real Deal reports, moving from 304 Hudson St., which was acquired by the Walt Disney Co. in July. The lease is for 15 years, and asking rents were in the mid-$50s per SF. Cushman & Wakefield’s Joseph Simon, Skyler Simon and Eric Thomas brokered the deal on behalf of PR Consulting, and landlord Barings was represented by Scott Cahaly and Kyle Young of JLL.
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Flexible office company Knotel signed four leases in Midtown South last month, spanning a total of around 31K SF. The company took a total of 20K SF at Moinian Group buildings at 54 West 22nd St., 147 West 24th St. and 37 West 17th St., according to a release. Knotel also inked a deal for 11K SF at 307 Fifth Ave., owned by Elijah Equities.
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Criminal justice reform advocate the Vera Institute inked a deal for 35K SF in Industry City, a lease that will see it moving from its current home at the Woolworth Building, where rents have risen to above $50 per SF, Crain's New York Business reports. The lease is for 15 years, and asking rents at Industry City are in the $30s per SF.
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CLEAR, a biometric secure identity platform, is taking 25K SF at EQ Office's Park Avenue Tower at 65 East 55th St. in a 10-year deal. The tech firm will lease the entire 17th floor later this year. Next year, it will take over part of 16th floor. The company is moving from 650 Fifth Ave.
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Alternative investment management firm Orion Resource Partners and global school Whittle School & Studios have taken a combined 30K SF at Hines' 7 Bryant Park. Orion is taking 14K SF on the 25th floor, and Whittle School & Studios will occupy a 14K SF space across the 27th floor.
CBRE’s Jason Pollen, Silvio Petriello and Ben Friedland represented Orion. Ben Fastenberg, David Maurer-Hollaender and Cara Chayet, also of CBRE, acted on behalf of Whittle School & Studios. Hines was represented by CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe, Howard Fiddle, Evan Haskell, Clyde Reetz, Evan Fiddle and Adele Huang.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Morgan Stanley and New York Community Bank provided $900M to RXR Realty for its Starrett-Lehigh Building at 601 West 26th St. The loan pays down a previous debt of $525M, which was also provided by Morgan Stanley and NYCB, Commercial Observer reports. The financing will also go toward the repositioning of the iconic property, according to the publication, a process set to finish next year.
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Brause Realty, Gotham Organization and an investor group that includes ABS Partners’ Earle Altman and Gregg Schenker secured $110M for a new Long Island City rental, The Real Deal reports. Mass Mutual provided the loan for 44-28 Purves St., known as the Forge. Gideon Gil, Alexander Hernandez and Noble Carpenter of Cushman & Wakefield arranged the financing.
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Brookfield landed $96.2M from HSBC for its South Bronx development acquisition, The Real Deal reports. The financing replaces the $31.9M loan UBS provided to the site's previous owners in 2015. The private equity giant has just closed on its purchase of 2401 Third Ave. and 101 Lincoln Ave., two parcels on the Harlem River waterfront where it plans to build a 1.4M SF development with 1,300 housing units, 30% of which will be designated as "income-targeted.” Brookfield is planning to break ground on the project next year.
TOP SALES
Alchemy Properties’ Ken Horn paid $158M to West End Collegiate Church for an Upper West Side development site, the New York Post reports. The properties include the Collegiate School at 260-262 West 78th St. and 378 West End Ave. next door. Bank OZK, formerly known as Bank of the Ozarks, provided $230M as an acquisition and construction loan. A luxury development is planned for the site.
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Chinese firm Landsea Homes and DNA Development paid $52.8M to Extell Development for an assemblage in Greenwich Village, The Real Deal reports. The deal includes 530 Sixth Ave. and 536-540 Sixth Ave., and was funded by a $97M loan from Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies. The site is slated for a luxury residential development featuring retail space.
