NEW YORK CITY — Transwestern has negotiated a 25,000-square-foot office lease for nonprofit childcare organization Sheltering Arms in Manhattan. The space is situated on a single floor of 25 Broadway, a 22-story, Class A office property also known as the Cunard Building. Other tenants include Relay Graduate School of Education, Teach for America and the American Thoracic Society. Lindsay Ornstein, Stephen Powers, Thomas Hines and Jake Cinti of Transwestern represented Sheltering Arms in the lease negotiations. Bruce Surry, Richard Levine and Gary Kamenetsky of CBRE represented the landlord, The Wolfson Group.
NEW YORK CITY — Brax Realty has arranged the $6.5 million sale of an eight-unit multifamily property in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Located at 220 W. 16th St., the property is situated near the Google corporate office between 7th and 8th avenues. The ground-floor retail space is currently being used as a production set for the upcoming season of “Sesame Street.” Alan Stenson of Brax represented the seller, a private family that owned the property for 35 years. Stenson also represented the buyer, a private investor that acquired the asset via a 1031 exchange.
NEW YORK CITY — M&T Bank has provided a $78.7 million acquisition and construction loan for the purchase of land in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn and development of a mixed-use project. The borrower, Two Trees Management, plans to build two mixed-use towers with 1,000 multifamily units, a 47,000-square-foot YMCA fitness facility, 57,000 square feet of office space and 30,000 square feet of retail space. Additional ground-level space will house amenities and a six-acre public park. The proposed project will be located along the East River on River Street, between Grand and North 3rd streets. Bjarke Ingels Group designed the project and James Corner Field Operations served as the landscape architect. Total cost of the project and the construction timeline were not disclosed, as Two Trees is seeking a rezoning.
NEW YORK CITY — Private education institution The Whittle School & Studios will open a 620,000-square-foot campus at The Wheeler, a 10-story tower in Brooklyn. Tishman Speyer recently completed construction of the tower, which is situated on top of a renovated Macy’s department store. The developer is finalizing construction of 11 Hoyt, an adjacent 48-unit condominium tower on the site of the former Macy’s parking garage. Shimoda Design Group was the architect of the project. The Whittle School will open its early learning program later this year, followed by its full Kindergarten through 12th grade program in September 2021. The Wall Street Journal reports that the project is expected to cost $300 million. Mark Aloia, Gary Rosenberg and Arielle Frost of Rosenberg & Estis P.C. represented Whittle in the lease negotiations.
NEW YORK CITY — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has negotiated a 70,728-square-foot office lease for accounting firm Marcum LLP in Midtown Manhattan. The company will relocate its headquarters to 730 Third Avenue, a 665,110-square-foot office building, from its current space at 750 Third Avenue by early 2021. The owner, TIAA, is currently renovating the building with two new lobbies and a 35,000-square-foot amenity space with a food hall, fitness center and conference facility. Ross Perlman and Lee Brodsky of NKF represented Marcum in the lease negotiations. Neil King and Paul Amrich of CBRE represented TIAA.
NEW YORK CITY — Law firm Katsky Korins LLP has extended its 19,871-square-foot office lease at 605 Third Avenue, a 1.1 million-square-foot office building in Midtown Manhattan. Under the terms of the lease extension, the firm will remain in its space through mid-2032. The company has been a tenant of the building since 1988 and occupies the entire 17th floor. Oliver Katcher of Indigo Property Holdings LLC represented Katsy Korins in the lease negotiations. Marc Packman and Clark Briffel represented the landlord, Fisher Brothers, on an internal basis.
NEW YORK CITY — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $33 million sale of a residential development site in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The site comprises three former industrial and residential buildings on the same block, located at 118 Hope St., 428 Rodney St. and 426 Rodney St. The buyer, local developer CW Realty, plans to redevelop the property with 100 multifamily units. Said Boukhalfa and Jonathan Codorniu of Marcus & Millichap represented CW Realty in the transaction. The team also represented the sellers, which were private owner-users.
NEW YORK CITY — Greystone, a New York City-based lending and advisory company, has formed a joint venture with Rittenhouse Realty Advisors, a Philadelphia-based advisory group. The joint venture is called Greystone Rittenhouse Realty Advisors, which includes a total of seven sales and debt advisors. The purpose of the joint venture is to provide disposition, refinancing, acquisition and bridge financing to multifamily clients in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. Jim McDevitt is the president of the joint venture. Ken Weller and Corey Lonberger lead the Rittenhouse Realty Advisors team.
NEW YORK CITY — E4H Architecture, a firm which designs hospitals and other medical health facilities, has signed a 10,156-square-foot office lease expansion for its office in the Garment District of Manhattan. The firm signed a 10-year lease for the entire sixth floor of an office building located at 15 W. 37th St. The firm will move its operations from its original 5,700-square-foot space on the 16th floor of the same building in the second quarter of this year. Norman Bobrow and David Badner of Norman Bobrow & Co. represented E4H in the lease negotiations. Jarad Winter, J.D. Cohen, William Cohen and Steven Levy of Newmark Knight Frank represented the landlord, Kamber Management.
Manhattan has long been one of the most competitive retail markets in the country due to two characteristics of its population: an incredible density and high incomes among residents and workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average weekly wage of Manhattan’s private sector workforce was $3,153 in the first quarter of 2019, much higher than the national average of $1,184 per week. In addition to its residential base, tourism plays a strong role in Manhattan’s retail sales. Marketing agency NYC & Co. projects that New York City will host 67 million visitors this year, up from approximately 65 million in 2018. While these demographic factors have kept Manhattan’s brick-and-mortar retail market somewhat insulated from e-commerce and other factors affecting the industry, the borough has not been completely shielded from the woes affecting the retail industry. Pocket-sized technology offers immediate access to everything from groceries and apparel to cars and construction materials, forcing brick-and-mortar retailers to get creative with their shopping experiences in order to avoid closing stores. Manhattan remains a top-tier market that commands rents above the national average. But the net result of e-commerce and asking rents that don’t match operating costs is a shift in …