NEW YORK CITY — Helmsley Spear LLC has arranged a $9.5 million refinancing loan for the 49-room Kings Hotel in Brooklyn. Crown Bank provided the 10-year, fixed-rate loan that carries a 25-year amortization schedule. Located at 2416 Atlantic Ave., the hotel features a fitness center and conference rooms. Showket Ahamed of Helmsley Spear arranged the financing.
NEW YORK — The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) has requested financial support from the federal government to guarantee or directly pay for business interruption coverage for retailers, restaurants, other tenants and landlords as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. In a letter addressed to President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, ICSC cited the $6.7 billion in consumer activity and $400 billion in annual state and local taxes that the retail, restaurant and entertainment industries generate, and appealed to a need to be able to continue to pay employees and suppliers. ICSC also volunteered the use of the parking lots of its member centers to facilitate the delivery of emergency supplies, as well as the construction of temporary health centers and shelters. <Read the full letter>
NEW YORK CITY — Brooklyn-based startup SG Blocks has launched a line of container-based residences designed for personal isolation in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Constructed from shipping containers, the blocks are designed to be cheap and safe places for people who may have been exposed to the virus to live temporarily. SG Blocks is known for repurposing shipping containers for various construction projects, many of which have been incorporated into retail and residential developments nation-wide. Prices of the individual isolation blocks have not yet been determined.
NEW YORK CITY — Amazon has acquired the Lord & Taylor office building in Midtown Manhattan for $1.15 billion, according to the New York Post. The e-commerce giant will use the 660,000-square-foot building at 424-434 Fifth Ave as its New York City headquarters, which will house several thousand employees. A partnership of investors including WeWork-owner Rhone Capital and Saks Fifth Avenue-owner Hudson’s Bay Co. sold the building. The Post reports that as part of the agreement, Amazon will pay $750 million in construction loans that WeWork borrowed to renovate the building. The acquisition follows Amazon’s scrapped plan to open a 4 million-square-foot HQ2 headquarters in Queens, which would have housed 25,000 employees.
NEW YORK CITY — Full-service real estate firm Savills has acquired New York City-based project management firm Macro Consultants. The acquisition expands Savills’ existing advisory and management services platforms, which previously consisted of 50 professionals across the United States and Canada. At the time the deal closed, Macro Consultants, which was led by former managing principal Michael Glatt, employed more than 85 professionals across several major cities in the U.S., including New York City and Philadelphia. Along with those professionals, Glatt has joined Savills as vice chairman and North American head of project management. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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.
