NEW YORK CITY — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has brokered the $21.5 million sale of 24 Woodward Avenue, a 110,000-square-foot distribution and warehouse facility in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens. The two-story property offers close proximity LaGuardia and Kennedy airports. Brian Ezratty and Scott Ellard of NKF represented the seller, Willowen Management Corp., in the transaction. The team also represented the buyer, Prologis.
WESTCHESTER, N.Y. — CBRE has negotiated a 13,000-square-foot office lease for law firm Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin in Westchester, a northern suburb of New York City. The company will occupy the top floor of RiverView at Purchase, a 120,000-square-foot, Class A office property located at 287 Bowman Ave. William Cuddy Jr. and Jacqueline Novotny of CBRE represented the landlord, Phoenix Capital Partners LLC, in the lease negotiations.
NEW YORK CITY — Newmark Night Frank has negotiated a 10,008-square-foot office lease on behalf of collegiate sports marketing firm Learfield IMG College in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan. The space is located on the 17th floor of 183 Madison Avenue, a 275,413-square-foot office building close to the Grand Central and Penn Station transit stations. Andrew Sachs, Tim Gibson, Josh Gosin and Brittany Silver of NKF represented the landlord, APF Properties, in the lease negotiations. Jack Senske and Brian Given of Colliers International represented Learfield.
NEW YORK CITY — Progress Capital has arranged an $85 million loan to refinance Union Crossing, a 275,000-square-foot mixed-use development in the Port Morris neighborhood of the Bronx. LibreMax Capital provided the floating-rate loan, which will be used to replace the original construction loan and fund potential tenant improvements and leasing commissions during lease-up. Located at 825 East 141st St., the building was originally constructed in 1916 as a major baking facility for the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. A partnership of the Bluestone Group, the Altmark Group, Madison Realty Capital and Galil Management purchased and redeveloped the property in 2016 to include retail, office and industrial space. Nonprofit affordable housing developer Westhab is the property’s first office tenant, taking 8,233 square feet of space. Brad Dominico of Progress Capital arranged the loan.
NEW YORK CITY — Avison Young has arranged the sale of a 10,438-square-foot office condominium in Manhattan to education union Local 372 for $9.2 million. The space is located on the 8th floor of a 13-story office building at 20 W. 33rd St. between Fifth Avenue and Broadway, walking distance from Penn Station, Herald Square and the Port Authority Grand Central Tunnel. Local 372 will use the office as its headquarters. James Nelson, David Lawrence and Carter Lovejoy represented the sellers, which included 60 Guilders.
With a unemployment rate of 3.9 percent, strong demographics, transportation that provides direct access to New York City and a highly skilled workforce, Westchester County is seeing steady investor interest across all major property types. We have seen significant interest from institutional investors, including pension fund advisors, insurance companies and REITs. This same buyer class has continued to underwrite increased rent growth in the more urban markets of Westchester County — Yonkers, New Rochelle, White Plains — ranging from 2.5 to 4.5 percent depending on occupancy and development pipeline within the local submarkets. This investor group is targeting yields of 5.5 to 6.5 percent in return on cost metrics and purchasing existing assets for cap rates ranging from 4.4 to 5.3 percent, depending on the age, location and upside of the transaction. That spread has historically been between 150 and 200 basis points. Given the need to put capital to work, the spread is now closer to 100 basis points, reflecting more aggressive pricing for the market. This trend is evident in the Westchester market with new construction projects in the transportation-oriented towns. In addition, interest rates have helped keep investors motivated to buy. Low yields have helped to keep …
NEW YORK CITY — Law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP has signed a 530,000-square-foot office lease for its new headquarters at The Spiral, a 2.8 million-square-foot office building currently under construction in the Hudson Yards district of Manhattan. The law firm will move from its current location at 919 Third Ave. into floors 40 through 52 of the 65-story tower under a 20-year lease agreement beginning in the second half of 2022. As a result of this latest lease signing, The Spiral is now 54 percent preleased. Other tenants include biopharmaceutical company Pfizer, which will occupy 800,000 square feet, and asset management company AllianceBernstein, which will occupy 189,000 square feet. The base of the building will also include 25,000 square feet of retail space. Designed by BIG Bjarke Ingels Group, construction of the building began in 2019 and is slated for completion in the second half of 2022. Tishman Speyer is the developer and owner of The Spiral.
HARRISON, N.Y. — Wegmans Food Market will open a 121,000-square-foot supermarket in Harrison, a northern suburb of New York City. The store is known for its wide selection of fresh produce, deli meats, cheeses and fresh baked breads, as well as its devoted following of “Wegmaniac” fans. The store will also house an internal restaurant called The Burger Bar, which will serve made-to-order burgers, sandwiches, salads and other casual cuisine, as well as beer and wine by the glass. Wegmans plans to hire 280 part-time and 220 full-time employees at the store, which is slated to open Sunday, June 7.
NEW YORK CITY — JLL has arranged a $47.5 million loan for the refinancing of The 80th Street Residence, a seniors housing facility in Manhattan. The assisted living facility specializes in enhanced memory care and comprises 61 units and 70 beds. IDB Bank, a New York-based private and commercial bank, provided the loan. Peter Rotchford, Zach Rigby, Jason Skalko and Dillon Donald of JLL arranged the loan on behalf of property owners Wayne Kaplan and Larry Morehead.
NEW YORK CITY — JLL has brokered the $150 million sale of River Street Assemblage, a 3.2-acre waterfront development site in the North Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, to Two Trees Management Co. LLC. Located at One River Street, the property includes 285,020 square feet of buildable space and is zoned M3-1 for a variety of retail, office, manufacturing and mixed-use projects. The site also includes a portion of water, piers and platforms along the East River and River Street. Brendan Maddigan and Stephen Palmese led a JLL team that represented the seller, Con Edison, in the transaction.
