This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet: Vornado Lands New Deals With Apple, Amazon
Tech giant Apple inked a 61K SF expansion at Vornado Realty Trust’s Penn 11, bringing its total footprint in the building to 460K SF.
The deal gives Apple the fourth through 14th floors in the building, including the new space that had been leased to Macy’s, according to The Real Deal, which first reported the lease. The deal also brings the expiration date for all of Apple’s space in the building to 2035, when the Macy’s lease runs out.
The building is still Macy’s headquarters, but the department store has been looking to sublease the space after it moved employees to Long Island City in 2020. But Vornado wanted to keep Macy’s credit in place while also having a direct relationship with Apple, TRD reported, resulting in both leases staying in place simultaneously.
Asking rents in the 26-story building were $85 per SF. Glen Weiss and Jared Silverman repped Vornado in-house, while Cushman & Wakefield’s David Endelman repped Apple. CBRE’s Scott Gottlieb represented Macy's, according to Commercial Observer.
TOP LEASES
Apple wasn't the only tech giant to take space in a Vornado building. WeWork signed a 304K SF lease at 330 W. 34th St., according to Colliers’ monthly report — but Amazon is the company moving into the flex space, Commercial Observer reported. Amazon’s move follows the company’s recent announcement that employees must be in the office five days a week as of January. Bruce Mosler, Anthony LoPresti, Ethan Silverstein, Theodora Livadiotis and David Mosler of Cushman & Wakefield represented WeWork, which is now being led by their former colleague John Santora.
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Winston & Strawn renewed its lease at 200 Park Ave. for 238K SF with landlord Irvine Co., according to a monthly leasing report from Colliers. The renewal keeps the international law firm’s footprint in the building roughly the same, Commercial Observer reported. Winston & Strawn has had its New York City headquarters in the building since the mid-1990s. It last renewed in the 59-story building for 15 years in 2010, but the new extension’s length isn’t clear. Winston & Strawn’s fellow tenants include CBRE, which renewed for 180K SF in the building earlier this year, as well as the building’s namesake company, MetLife, which renewed for 400K SF last December.
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SL Green has signed business management consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal to 220K SF at 100 Park Ave., according to Colliers’ November report. The 907K SF, 1949-built office tower, renovated in 2008, has just 44K SF left available, according to the landlord’s website. Cushman & Wakefield’s David Dusek represented the tenant, while the firm's Harry Blair, Tara Stacom, Barry Zeller, Pierce Hance and Justin Royce represented the landlord, Commercial Observer reported.
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Landlord Global Holdings has signed a slew of deals at 99 Park Ave. totaling 95K SF, according to a release. The landlord’s chairman and founder, Eyal Ofer, announced a $30M capital improvement program in the building, which is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2026 and will redesign the building’s facade and create amenity spaces like a conference center and a tenant barber shop and salon. Anchor tenant Metropolitan Commercial Bank renewed and expanded to 82K SF in the building, with representation from JLL’s Paul Glickman and Diana Biasotti. Real estate investment manager Lubert-Adler expanded by 8K SF, represented by Newmark's Noel Flagg. Wealth management firm Steward Partners signed for 5K SF, with representation from CBRE’s David Opper and Eddie Sisca. Global Holdings was repped by JLL’s Kristen Morgan and Harrison Potter in the deal with Metropolitan Commercial Bank. The pair also repped the landlord in the deal with Steward Partners, alongside Paul Glickman and Diana Biasotti.
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Jay Properties, the investment arm of flexible office provider Jay Group, signed four leases totaling 24K SF at its recently acquired 8 W. 38th St., according to a release. TCW Trends signed for 15K SF, James Scott signed for 4K SF, Exponent signed for 4K SF and McDonald Selznick Associates signed for 2K SF. The landlord recently completed a capital improvement project in the 12-story, 142K SF building that included renovating common areas, adding facial recognition systems at lobby security and building two rooftop terraces. Jay is also turning the third floor into a conference center. Lee & Associates NYC’s Todd Korren and David Scher repped the landlord in all the deals.
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Fidelity Investments is moving to 24K SF at 320 Park Ave., which Mutual of America Financial Group and Munich Re own, Commercial Observer reported. Fidelity is moving out of 350 Park Ave., which Vornado and Rudin are preparing to tear down and replace with a supertall office in a joint venture with Citadel CEO Ken Griffin. Fidelity will occupy both retail and office space in the 34-story office tower at 320 Park, split between 20K SF of office space and almost 4K SF of retail. It will join a tenant roster that includes Flagstar Bank and Mutual of America. Frank Doyle, David Kleiner and Carlee Palmer of JLL represented the landlord, while CBRE’s Annette Healey and Christopher Heyn and Cushman & Wakefield’s Dale Schlather repped the tenant.
TOP SALES
Walter & Samuels has sold an 80K SF office building in the Garment District for $21.5M, PincusCo reported. An LLC called Left To Write, which appears to be in the care of property management firm Pyrus Management, is the new owner of 15 W. 36th St., in a deal that works out to $267 per SF. The sale is Walter & Samuels’ sixth in the past two years, netting the firm a total of $119.1M in that period, according to PincusCo. It has disposed of multiple buildings that were leased to WeWork before the coworking firm's bankruptcy.
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The Carlyle Group spent $68M across two transactions on properties operated by self-storage provider CubeSmart, PincusCo reported. The seller in both transactions was Storage Deluxe. The first property, 74-16 Grand Ave. in the Queens neighborhood of Maspeth, cost Carlyle $51M. The second property, 302 Dyckman St. in Washington Heights, closed for $17M. Carlyle also bought four storage facilities in Richmond Hill, Brownsville, Greenwood Heights and East Flatbush for $110.4M earlier this year, PincusCo previously reported.
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BLDG Management has acquired 79 N. 10th St. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, from Cayuga Capital Management in a deal priced at $26.9M, according to city property records. The price is just above the debt level. In 2018, Cayuga scored a $24.5M loan from M&T Bank and a $4M loan from BLDG, PincusCo reported. The loans fell into default several years ago. The sale isn't described as a transfer or a deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure in documents, but its nature — a former owner in default turning the property over to a lender — shares the characteristics of that kind of deal, according to PincusCo.
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Zar Property New York snapped up 119 W. 57th St., a 16-story office building spanning 160K SF on Billionaires' Row, for $27M, Crain’s New York Business reported. The family-run developer plans to continue operating the 1925-built property, which is 98% leased and has asking rents of $48 per SF, as rental office space. The seller was family firm Musart Associates, which has owned the property since 1984, Crain’s reported. The acquisition is the latest in a string made by Zar this year, including the $27M August purchase of an office building at 37 E. 18th St. and a $15.2M February acquisition of a commercial condo at 30 W. 61st St.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Naftali Group nabbed a $140M construction loan from JPMorgan Chase for an under-construction, 62-unit condo project in Manhattan’s Lenox Hill neighborhood, PincusCo reported. The 190K SF building slated for 255 E. 77th St. received permits last December and will also have one commercial unit.
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MF1 Capital originated a $140M loan for a luxury development known as The Highland Brooklyn, The Real Deal reported. The loan for the 2840 Atlantic Ave. property, which borrowers Bushburg and The Moinian Group converted from a dairy factory into a 14-story, 320-unit property, replaced a $130M sum used for the conversion and expansion. Bushburg acquired the property for almost $17M in 2018, and the partners landed $105M in construction financing from Valley Bank and Cross River Bank plus a $25M gap mortgage two years ago.
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Spencer Equity Group and The Rabsky Group refinanced five Williamsburg properties for $267M on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, PincusCo reported. The loans were split into two transactions. The first covers residential condo portions of four properties — 322, 330, 342 and 352 Wallabout St. — in Williamsburg. The second transaction covers the whole building at 13-15 Gerry St., which is adjacent to 322 Wallabout St.
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Spruce Capital Partners' lending arm, S3, has originated an $85M acquisition and construction loan to a joint venture of Joyland Group and Prospect Development for a project at 133 Kent Ave., according to a release. The development site, which has full approvals for a six-story mixed-use building featuring 43 luxury condo units and almost 18K SF of retail space, was sold for $48.3M by L3 Capital. Joyland and Prospect’s development is expected to start construction immediately. JLL’s Brendan Maddigan, Ethan Stanton and Michael Mazzara arranged the sale, while Aaron Niedermayer and Geoff Goldstein led the brokerage’s debt advisory team.
