NEW YORK CITY — Brookfield Properties has closed on the acquisition of two development sites along the Harlem River waterfront in the Bronx for $165 million. The two sites are located at 101 Lincoln Ave. and 2401 Third Ave. in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. Brookfield plans to continue construction on a mixed-use project at the two sites that will include a total of 1,253 residential units and four retail stores. Doug Harmon and Adam Doneger of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the transaction on behalf of the buyer. Todd Soloway, Danielle Schechner, and Ari Tran of Pryor Cashman represented the seller, a joint venture comprised of affiliates of The Chetrit Group and Somerset Partners, in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Marx Realty has purchased two mixed-use properties on the Lower East Side of Manhattan for $48.5 million. Located at 135 and 161 Bowery, the two properties include 48,000 square feet of office and retail space combined. Built in 2016, 135 Bowery is an eight-story building that includes street-level retail and office space on floors two through eight. The building is fully leased to a tenant roster that includes visual effects company Lola, creative agency Minds + Assembly, trading technology firm Tradewind and attorneys Martin Liu & Associates. Originally built in 1920 and redeveloped in 2016, the seven-story building at 161 Bowery also includes street-level retail and office space. Tenants at the fully leased building include Warner Music, Kik Interactive, advertising firm Space 150, and educational startup Brainly. Artemis Real Estate Partners was the seller for 135 Bowery, while 161 Bowery was sold by a joint venture in partnership with Ultimate Realty.
NEW YORK CITY — Lexington Realty Trust (NYSE: LXP) has sold a 21-office asset portfolio for $726 million to a joint venture between affiliates of Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP and Lexington. The office properties are spread across the U.S., with properties in the eastern and western regions, the South and the Midwest. The 3.8 million-square-foot portfolio is currently 98.6 percent leased to a tenant roster that includes Amazon, Experian Holdings, Motel 6 and Nissan. “This transaction marks a major step forward as we execute on our strategy to efficiently recycle capital out of suburban office properties and concentrate our portfolio on single-tenant, net leased industrial properties,” says T. Wilson Eglin, CEO of New York City-based Lexington Realty Trust. We intend to use transaction proceeds to continue to acquire high-quality industrial properties and repay our revolving credit facility and other debt, which we believe is the best path to create meaningful long-term shareholder value.” Following the transaction, Lexington’s percentage of industrial assets based on consolidated revenue is expected to increase to 60 percent from 44 percent at year-end 2017. Lexington received net cash proceeds of approximately $565 million at closing. The joint venture is expected to assume approximately $57 million …
After a sluggish start to the year, the Manhattan office market has experienced a strong rebound. In the second quarter, more than 10 million square feet of space was leased, the highest quarterly total since 2014, pushing year-to-date leasing activity to just over 17 million square feet. At mid-year 2018, there were 17 new leases exceeding 100,000 square feet and 35 new leases of more than 50,000 square feet. Although the economy has been at a peak for an unusually long time, the Manhattan office market has reached new highs. This presents an interesting exception to the norm, where real estate typically lags the economy, and it is good news for the market. Market Drivers While demand has come from a variety of sectors, the most recent top occupiers have come from the FIRE (financial services, insurance, and real estate), TAMI (technology, advertising, media and information), law firm and coworking sectors. Early in the year, the FIRE sector dominated large-block transactions. Examples include JPMorgan Chase’s 420,000-square-foot lease at the newly renovated 390 Madison Ave., and Bank of America Corp.’s 343,000-square-foot lease at 1100 Avenue of the Americas and 127,000-square-foot lease at 1114 Avenue of the Americas. This level of expansion …
NEW YORK CITY — TD Bank has arranged an $18 million construction loan for Phoenix Estates, an eight-story, mixed-use building in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx. The 111,000-square-foot property is located at 700 Manida St. and will consist of 180 residential units for low-income seniors and moderate-income families. The first floor of the building will be a dedicated community facility used to host classes for residents of the building. TD Bank provided financing for borrowers MHANY Management Inc. and We Stay/Nos Quedamos Inc. The housing development will also benefit from a $14 million investment from the City of New York. The project is scheduled for completion by 2020.
RENSSELAER, N.Y. — Red Stone Tax-Exempt Funding LLC has provided $20.2 million in tax-exempt bonds for the rehabilitation of two affordable seniors housing communities in Rensselaer, located just across the Hudson River from downtown Albany. The Section 8 properties, Van Rensselaer Heights and Renwyck Place, were originally constructed in 1980. Millennia Housing Development will perform the renovations on a budget exceeding $45,000 per unit. An affiliate of Red Stone is the borrower, and will also use the funding to acquire the properties. Boston Capital Corp. purchased approximately $9.5 million in Low-Income Housing Tax-Credits (LIHTCs) in association with the properties.
NEW YORK CITY — Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Reis Inc. (NASDAQ: REIS) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $278 million. Reis is a provider of commercial real estate (CRE) data. The acquisition expands Moody’s Analytics’ network of data and analytics providers in the CRE space, including recent investments in start-ups that apply innovative approaches and new technologies to source data and deliver tools to the market. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Moody’s will commence a tender offer to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Reis common stock for $23 per share in cash. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Moody’s expects to complete the acquisition in the fourth quarter of 2018.
BROCKPORT, N.Y. — Greystone has provided a $20.6 million Fannie Mae DUS loan for the refinancing of Autumn Woods Community in Brockport. Located on more than 25 acres, Autumn Woods is a recently constructed multifamily property comprising 296 units. Brockport is approximately 19 miles west of Rochester. Brian Liske of Greystone arranged the 10-year, fixed-rate refinancing on behalf of borrower, Carl Grasta of Outlook Development LLC. The refinancing replaces an existing construction loan from Genesee Regional Bank.
NEW YORK CITY — New York-based art, fashion and collections storage company UOVO is set to open a 150,000-square-foot art storage facility in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. Scheduled to open in fall 2019, the property will offer specialized climate-controlled storage designed to the standards of the world’s leading museums. The facility will be the largest of its kind in Brooklyn. UOVO: Brooklyn will be three stories tall and built entirely of reinforced concrete. The facility will also include four loading docks and two freight elevators.
NEW YORK CITY — Progress Capital has secured a $30 million bridge loan for the American Self Storage Building in Brooklyn. Brad Domenico of Progress Capital secured the interest-only bridge loan for Jorge Madruga of Maddd Equities and Eli Weiss of Joy Construction. The lender was Nataxis. Located at 202-208 Tillary St., the 115,000-square-foot property will continue to be operated as a self-storage facility until plans to convert it into a residential building are finalized.