NEW YORK CITY — Footwear retailer Manolo Blahik will open a 9,947-square-foot retail and office lease in Manhattan. The property with include 4,942 square feet of retail space and 5,005 square feet of office space. David Thomas Design will serve as the project architect for the interior build-out of the store. Ariel Schuster, Ben Birnbaum and Peter Shimkin represented Manolo Blahik in the lease negotiations. The landlord is 717 Madison LP The store is slated to open later this year.
NEW YORK CITY — JLL has arranged a $545 million loan for the refinancing of 711 Fifth Avenue, a 340,024-square-foot office building in Manhattan. Originally built in 1927, the 18-story building consists of 284,061 square feet of office space and 55,963 square feet of retail space. In its 93-year history, 711 Fifth Avenue has served as the both the corporate and regional headquarters of companies such as NBC, Columbia Pictures and Coca-Cola. The building is located near Central Park and the world-renowned 57th Street luxury residential corridor, also known as Billionaires’ Row. Goldman Sachs served as the senior lender on the deal. The borrower was a partnership between locally based development firm SVHO, Deutsche Finance America and BLG Capital. The partnership acquired the building in September 2019. A portion of the proceeds will be used to fund capital improvements, including upgrades to the lobby, mechanical systems, terraces and other outdoor common areas. The SHVO-led development team has acquired seven properties during the past 18 months, including 685 Fifth Avenue, 711 Fifth Avenue and 530 Broadway in New York City. Michael Tepedino, David Sitt, Robert Tonnessen, Kristen Knapp and Sophie Gaylor led the JLL team that placed the debt. Wachtel Missry LLP served as the borrower’s legal …
NEW YORK CITY — In a dramatic move, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) has postponed its annual RECon event over rapidly escalating concerns about COVID-19 (coronavirus), according to an announcement posted today on the trade association’s website. In 2019, more than 37,000 industry professionals descended on the Las Vegas Convention Center for the annual retail and real estate networking event, which featured 1,200 exhibitors and 853,000 square feet of exhibit space. In addition to postponing RECon, ICSC has suspended all of its events through June 30 of this year and is currently evaluating alternative dates for RECon. Registration, exhibitor and sponsorship fees will automatically roll over once the new date is announced or can be credited toward any future ICSC event, according to the organization’s website. At this time, fall events, including New York Deal Making, are scheduled to proceed as planned.
NEW YORK CITY — Gaedeke Group, a Texas-based developer, has purchased 44 Wall Street, a, 354,000-square-foot office building in Lower Manhattan, for $200 million. The 24-story building was constructed in 1927. In 2016, the building’s previous owner invested approximately $24 million to renovate and modernize the building. George Comfort & Sons Inc. will operate the asset on behalf of the new owner. Michael O’Callaghan and Gentry Ashmore Hoit of Finback Real Estate represented Gaedeke in the transaction. Will Silverman of Eastdil Secured and Paul Gillen of Hodges Ward Elliott represented the seller, EQ Office, a subsidiary of The Blackstone Group.
NEW YORK CITY — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has negotiated a 19,358-square-foot office lease for mental healthcare provider AbleTo Inc. in the Garment District of Manhattan. The space is located on two floors at 230 West 37th St. AbleTo’s previous headquarters was located on two non-contiguous floors in the same building. Fred Smith, Thomas Burrus and Elizabeth Ughetta of NKF represented AbleTo in the lease negotiations. The landlord, Sioni Group, was self-represented.
NEW YORK CITY — Modell’s Sporting Goods has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. The fourth-generation, family-owned retailer will close all of its 153 stores throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The New York City-based sporting goods, athletic footwear, active apparel and fan gear retailer was founded in 1889. The company will begin liquidation sales Friday, March 13 and plans to continue operating its online platform. Modell’s lenders, which include Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase, will provide the company with the financial flexibility to operate the business in the near term, including paying employee wages and benefits. According to the New York Post, Modell’s employs 3,623 workers. With the rising competition and plethora of online options to shop for athletic gear, CEO Mitchell Modell cites an “extremely challenging environment for retailers” as a reason for the bankruptcy. “Over the past year, we evaluated several options to restructure our business to allow us to maintain our current operations,” says Modell. “While we achieved some success, in partnership with our landlords and vendors, it was not enough to …
NEW YORK CITY — Rosewood Realty Group has arranged the $5.4 million sale of a 17-unit multifamily building in Manhattan. The 7,986-square-foot property is located at 336 E. 82nd St. and was completed in 1920. At the time of sale, 15 of the 17 units were vacant. Ryan Lai of Rosewood represented the buyer, Bettina Equities, in the transaction. Jack Zalta, also of Rosewood, represented the seller, Townhouse Management.
NEW YORK CITY — Newmark Night Frank (NKF) has arranged a $20 million acquisition loan for the Shops at Richmond Avenue, a 76,000-square-foot retail property on Staten Island. Bridge Investment Group provided the floating-rate loan to the borrower, Infinity Real Estate. The property consists of two buildings that are leased to tenants including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Staples, Men’s Warehouse, Starbucks and Bank of America. Dustin Stolly, Jordan Roeschlaub and Chris Kramer of NKF arranged the loan.
NEW YORK CITY — Health & Hospitals Corp. (HHC) has signed a 21,643-square-foot office lease in the Tremont neighborhood of The Bronx. The space is located at 1910 Webster Ave. in the Tremont Renaissance residential and commercial building, which features 256 apartments and 40,000 square feet of commercial space, 15,000 of which is leased to a supermarket. The lease term is 15 years. The healthcare center will offer pediatric, primary, urgent and elder care services. Michael Dubin and Hector Rodriguez of Savitt Partners LLC represented HHC in the lease negotiations. Kathy Zamechansky of KZA Realty Group represented the property developer and owner, Mastermind Ltd.
NEW YORK CITY — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated a 5,800-square-foot office lease for investment management firm Rubric Capital in Manhattan. The company will occupy a suite on the 16th floor of 10 Grand Central, a 36-story building that was completed in the 1930s, for the next seven years. Rubric is moving from its previous space at 767 Third Avenue in June. The building owner, Marx Realty, implemented a $48 million repositioning project in 2018, which updated the entry, marquee, lobby, outdoor terrace and conference space. The building is 95 percent leased to tenants including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s production company, Seven Bucks Productions. Cynthia Wasserberger, Sam Eiler, David Kleiner and Carlee Palmer represented Marx Realty in the lease negotiations. Alan Wilde of Cushman & Wakefield represented Rubric Capital.