WESTBURY, N.Y. — LNR Partners LLC has sold The Mall at the Source, a 723,326-square-foot shopping center in the Long Island community of Westbury, for $92 million. The transaction included the 210,798-square-foot Fortunoff Building, a vacant anchor property formerly occupied by now-defunct department store Fortunoff. The property, which includes a four-story parking garage, is situated on 38 acres at 1504 Old Country Road. Located 28 miles from New York City, the mall is positioned within the Nassau Hub submarket. LNR sold the property as the manager for CMAT 99-C1 Old Country Road LLC, which is a subsidiary of Starwood Property Trust Inc. There was also a co-seller on the transaction, a real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMIC) trust for which C-III Asset Management LLC is the special servicer. Jose Cruz, Kevin O’Hearn, Chris Phaneuf, Michael Oliver, Stephen Simonelli and Andrew Scandalios of HFF marketed the property on behalf of the sellers. HFF also secured a loan for the Fortunoff Building. An undisclosed private foreign buyer purchased the mall and acquired the title to the Fortunoff Building. Starwood Property Trust is a commercial mortgage real estate investment trust. C-III Asset Management is a real estate investment management and commercial property services company. …
New York
As the U.S. economy passes through the third largest expansion cycle in the economic history, every sector in the economy has seen phenomenal growth over the last six to seven years. The growth in other industries has had a trickle-down effect on the real estate sector. U.S. real estate has seen rents surging and even surpassing the previous expansion cycle, as well as an increase in leasing and absorption activity and a record rise in the value of sales transactions. Manhattan has always been at the epicenter of this real estate growth. With the combination of developed market and investment-grade properties, Manhattan has regularly attracted the majority of foreign direct investment in the real estate sector throughout the country. Increased demand from TAMI (technology, advertising, media and information) and FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate) sector tenants have made these properties an attractive investment option for both the local institutional investors and foreign direct investment. The Manhattan commercial real estate market has seen a 33 percent (see footnote 1) increase in the transactions above $1,000 per square foot over the last seven years. These values are no longer limited to only trophy properties in Midtown but have spread across both Midtown …
ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has arranged a $17.4 million Fannie Mae loan for Mill River Residences in Rockville Centre. The affordable multifamily property was built in 1970 and renovated in 2006. Of the 175 units, 95 are age restricted and the remaining 80 are designated for households earning less than 60 percent of area median income. Dirk Falardeau of Key’s commercial mortgage group arranged the first mortgage financing with a seven-year term and 30-year amortization schedule. The loan was used to refinance existing debt.
NEW YORK CITY — Avanath Capital Management has acquired an affordable housing portfolio of 17 apartment buildings totaling 198 units in Brooklyn for $73 million. The properties were purchased from a private investor in joint partnership with New York-based Oak Tree Management. Located in the Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhoods, the properties include 115 rent-stabilized units, 79 free market units and four commercial spaces. Average rents range from $1,700 to $2,500 per month. Avanath’s Ben Finley was responsible for sourcing and acquiring the deal. Peter Von Der Ahe, Joseph Koicim and Shaun Riney of Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), and DJ Johnston of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller. Andrew Dansker of Marcus & Millichap arranged the financing for the buyer. The portfolio’s four commercial spaces are leased to tenants including Sunday Routine, Fool’s Gold Records and a day care center.
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the sale of an office property at 555 White Plains Road in Tarrytown to Robert Martin Co. (RMC). RNY Property Trust sold the 133,645-square-foot, five-story office building, which sits on 4.2 acres with frontage along White Plains Road. Currently 25 percent leased to two tenants, the building features floor sizes of 33,000 square feet with 386 parking spaces. Cushman & Wakefield’s team included Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Brian Whitmer, Frank DiTommaso II and Al Mirin.
Meridian Capital Group Arranges $21M Acquisition Financing for Office Property in Syracuse, New York
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Meridian Capital Group has arranged $19 million in acquisition financing and $2 million for the repositioning of One Lincoln Center, an office property in Syracuse. The financing was arranged on behalf of Asher Zamir of Zamir Equities. Meridian’s Steven Edelstein, Steven Adler and Luke Hingson negotiated the loan, which was provided by a debt fund. One Lincoln Center is a 19-story, 305,594-square-foot office tower anchored by JPMorgan Chase, Bond, Schoeneck & King, CadaretGrant, Arcadis, and Earthlink. Located at 110 W. Fayette St., the property is adjacent to the intersection of I-81 and I-690.
NEW YORK CITY — Madison Realty Capital (MRC) has provided a $53.5 million first mortgage loan for the acquisition of a 90,000-square-foot development site located on Metropolitan Avenue and Graham Avenue in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. SL Development acquired the property, which operated as an umbrella factory since 1933. The financing also will also fund the conversion of the asset into a mixed-use property. Upon completion, the development will include 69 residential condominiums with 18 parking spaces and 20,000 square feet of retail. Rawlings Architects designed the project, which will also feature a resident gym and a roof deck. Construction is expected to begin this month and be completed in July 2019. Aaron Appel, Michael Diaz and Alex Witt from Jones Lang LaSalle sourced the deal to MRC and represented the borrower in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — The Britannia Group has negotiated the $23 million sale of a 41-unit apartment property in the South Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Britannia’s Jacob Rogosnitzky and David Zlotnick represented the buyer, a German family, in the acquisition of the property at 218 S. 3rd St.
NEW YORK CITY — Strategic Capital has made a $140 million equity investment for a multifamily development in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan. Strategic’s investment consists of equity and mezzanine components invested in a joint venture with Cape Advisors and Forum Absolute Capital Partners (FACP). Strategic Capital will co-develop the property with Cape Advisors. Strategic Capital is the investment arm of China Construction America (CCA), which is the American subsidiary of China State Construction and Engineering Company (CSCEC). The site is located at 110 Charlton St. and 537 Greenwich St. When complete, the project will span 280,000 square feet with 170 residential units, ground-floor retail and parking. Plaza Construction, an affiliate of Strategic Capital is the general contractor for the project. Construction will begin in June and sales for the condominiums will begin in spring 2018.
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. — A $15 million, 21,000-square-foot expansion of the LaGuardia Community College library is now complete. The college, part of the City University of New York (CUNY), has an enrollment of more than 50,000. The expansion converted a section of the second floor of the college’s E-Building into additional space for the library. The work makes the library 58 percent larger and doubles its capacity to 732 seats. The expansion also includes media rooms, 11 group study rooms, reading rooms, a media lab, faculty suites, archive space and 50 offices.