This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet
This week, an events provider filled vacancy left by a major retailer's departure, a luxury rental in Brooklyn scored a big financing package, and a massive site waterfront site in Williamsburg changed hands.
TOP LEASES
The New York Police Department inked a deal to extend its lease at 500 Abbot St. in the Bronx for another 20 years, Commercial Observer reports. The 124K SF space is leased for the department’s auto crime and narcotics units. Sound Distributing Corp. owns the single-story warehouse, and rents are around $18 per SF, meaning the city will be paying roughly $2.2M a year at the start of the term.
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Events space provider Convene is taking 73K SF at Brookfield Place, replacing most of the space Saks Fifth Avenue women's store vacated in the lower levels of the complex. Convene will build out two 500-seat event venues and a café and provide a building-wide catering program. The Saks was Brookfield Place mall's largest tenant, but closed after two years.
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Maesa Group is taking 34K SF of office at Brookfield Place for 10 years, Commercial Observer reports. The company makes products like Banana Republic's scents and Drew Barrymore’s Flower Beauty, and it is paying $75 per SF in rent. The company, based in France, will take space on the 23rd floor and will move from 40 Worth St. later this year. CBRE’s Jared Freede and Ross Zimbalist brokered the deal for Maesa. Brookfield was represented in-house by Mikael Nahmias.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Steiner NYC locked down $330M from TIAA's real estate arm, Nuveen, to refinance The Hub, the rental at 333 Schermerhorn St. in Brooklyn. The financing replaces a $300M construction loan from Bank of America, CIT Bank, Helaba, Santander and TD Bank, according to a release.
Meanwhile, the company sold a majority stake in the building to a JPMorgan real estate equity fund, The Real Deal reports. City records show that show a 62% stake with a $253M value in the building was transferred to an LLC with an address at 277 Park Ave. where JPMorgan is headquartered.
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EQ Office scored a $570M loan from Morgan Stanley for 65 East 55th St., known as Park Avenue Tower, The Real Deal reports. EQ Office, a Blackstone Group subsidiary, paid $750M for the building in 2014 and has spent $25M renovating the tower. It locked down a $560M loan that same year. Of that sum, $425M was securitized, and that portion has now been paid off.
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Axos Bank, based in San Diego, provided $40M to Mapleton Group for 1560 60th St. in Brooklyn, Commercial Observer reports. The company is constructing 13 buildings on the site with a total of 148 units.
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TD Bank loaned $34.5M to Kahen Properties for 145 Madison Ave., Commercial Observer reports. The loan provides $12M in new leverage. The building features 70 rental units and reaches 23 stories.
TOP SALES
Tishman Speyer paid $20M last week for a two-story building at 527 West 36th St., currently home to an auto repair building. The company plans to demolish the building, and build greenway between West 36th and West 37th streets on the western side of 10th Avenue, which will allow for the extension of Hudson Yards’ Bella Abzug Park. As the result of a city incentive called the District Improvement Bonus, the company will score air rights that will allow it to build a tower on that same block.
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Con Edison sold a waterfront site in Williamsburg for $50M, The Real Deal reports. The site is at 500 Kent Ave., and the buyer is a partnership including Tomas Rosenthal’s Hampshire Properties. In total, the site spans 2.7 acres and features the ability to build up to 230K SF.
