NEW YORK CITY — Madison Realty Capital (MRC) has closed a $32 million construction loan for a mixed-use project at the former 266,322-square-foot St. John’s Queens Hospital, located at 90-02 Queens Blvd. in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens. The construction financing follows an initial $38 million acquisition loan provided by MRC in December 2013, which brings the total financing package from MRC to $70 million. Located along Queens Boulevard between 57th Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard, the property allows for 148,109 square feet of residential space and 118,213 square feet of commercial and community space. Once redeveloped, the project will offer retail space and 144 residential units. Additionally, the purchaser acquired the four-story, 89,601-square-foot parking garage located behind the hospital building, which offers 290 parking spaces and direct access from Queens Boulevard. After the $38 million acquisition loan closed, MRC offered a conditional commitment to fund the remaining renovation of the property once the borrower received approvals on all building plans. St. John’s Queens Hospital has been closed since the hospital’s operator filed for bankruptcy in 2009.
NEW YORK CITY — Cignature Realty Associates has brokered the sale of a 43,160-square-foot residential building, which is located at 880 Saint Nicholas Ave. within the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. The six-story, 36-unit apartment building sold for $7 million. Peter Vanderpool and Lazer Sterhell of Cignature Realty represented both the buyer, 880 St. Nick LLC, and seller, 880 St. Nicholas Avenue Holdings LP, in the transaction.
RIDGEWOOD, N.Y. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of 759 Seneca Ave., an apartment building located in Ridgewood. The five-unit residential property sold for $2 million. Derek Bestreich, Lucien Sproviero and Steve Reynolds of Marcus & Millichap’s Brooklyn office represented the seller, a limited liability company, and the buyer, another limited liability company, in the transaction.
Since 2010, the Brooklyn real estate market has been surging. Over the course of the last four years, the total dollar amount of commercial real estate sales in Brooklyn has increased 397 percent with transaction volume up 151 percent. In 2010, $1 billion of commercial sales were completed, compared to more than $5 billion in 2013 — and projections for commercial sales in Brooklyn for 2014 are more than $6 billion. Retail property sales in the first half of 2014 compared to the first half of 2013 have increased 33 percent in dollar volume and have seen a 12 percent increase in transaction volume. Brooklyn has become a true retail destination, with more national retailers than ever opening up shop. Barney’s Co-op is credited as being one of the first upscale retailers in the borough four years ago. J. Crew, Sephora, Nord-strom Rack and Whole Foods are several of the other nationally known retailers to make the move to Brooklyn. Apple is looking to open its first Brooklyn store, and the potential location of the store continues to be a widely discussed topic. Brooklyn offers a dense concentration of consumers for retailers to serve. According to an economic development report …
The Manhattan office leasing market witnessed a substantial amount of activity in 2013. Surprising moves were made as tenants relocated out of traditional submarkets into emerging submarkets throughout the city. Many well-known companies, such as Condé Nast and Jones Day, made big commitments to move from traditional office space in Midtown to Downtown. The low vacancy rate in the Midtown South market forced tenants to look for outside options. Companies such as Nielsen, Shazam Media Services, and Alloy Digital have moved out of the Midtown South market over the past 12 to 18 months. This movement is expected to continue in 2014. This year started off well. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many early 2014 transactions were carried over from the end of 2013. From January through end of February, a total of 301 lease transactions were signed amounting to 4.4 million square feet of leased space, as compared to 600 transactions closed in the first quarter of 2013. The average Class A vacancy rate throughout Manhattan remained between 9 and 10 percent, while Downtown experienced vacancy in the lower double digits mainly due to new construction. Pockets within the Midtown submarket showed diverging dynamics. For example, the Midtown submarket …
The retail industry has piggybacked onto the high tech world by recognizing the impact that the high tech industry is having on the demographics and income levels of the entire Upstate New York region. Recent announcements of the return of Lord & Taylor to Crossgates Mall in Albany, and the positioning of UNIQLO at the Palisades Mall in Nyack, N.Y., are proving that the impact of the high-tech industry is now being felt throughout the entire upstate region. The addition of both of these retailers to the mix in the Tech Valley corridor of Upstate New York (from Nyack to Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) bodes well for the region, and shows the world that the growth rate of young, tech-savvy professionals will become one of the strong foundations for retailers well into the future. The recent addition of these two dynamic retailers into the Hudson Valley/Tech Valley regions is evidence of their understanding of the impact of the high technology industries located here. The higher paying, clean-tech employment base, focused on a younger work force, points directly to these two retailers’ “sweet spot.” UNIQLO’s format is very fashion forward with a very high level of quality at their specific price point. …
New York City continues to make economic progress. The city’s workforce grew by 78,900 jobs over the 12 months ending April 2013. As a consequence, the unemployment rate declined to 7.7 percent in April compared to 8.8 percent a year ago. Reflecting continued employment growth, the office market was quite active across Manhattan, as a wide range of tenants signed leases during the first quarter. Tenant volume exceeded the previous quarter activity by 38 percent and was more than twice that of a year ago. Availability rates, however, remained relatively unchanged in Midtown North and Downtown and increased in Midtown South. Overall asking rents declined in Midtown North, but rose in Midtown South and Downtown. A number of tenants are viewing their space needs differently than in the past. Collaborative working spaces and “green” are de rigueur; oversized workspaces are not. The recent slow absorption is the result of a combination of tenants frequently relocating or renewing at the same or reduced size and the return of numerous large blocks of space to the market. Manhattan is blessed with the ability to continually reinvent itself. A wide range of exciting changes are in various stages of development that will alter …
As a global player, New York City enjoys top-shelf retail advantages that continue to support the market as they always have — by keeping one foot on the gas pedal and one eye on the rearview mirror, as the recessionary cycle fades further out of view. From an economic perspective, New York City is recovering by leaps and bounds, posting 1.5 percent year-over-year growth between February 2012 and February 2013, and a liberal 4.3 percent rise in the professional and businesses services sector that includes 35,000 new jobs. Add to that the overall uptick in the global economy (read: consumer confidence) and the market’s inherent strength as an international tourist destination, and all bets are on New York to remain one of the tightest retail markets in the country for the next few years. New York City boasted an enviable 2.2 percent vacancy rate for all types of retail at the end of first quarter 2013 — an impressive figure when compared to the average U.S. first quarter vacancy rate of 6.8 percent. Quoted rents in New York’s five boroughs also rebounded 12.7 percent year-over-year to $50.90 per square foot on average. This is about three times higher than the …
Improvement in the city's employment picture is adding fuel to the fire of an already heated multifamily market. As we enter the summer, the vital signs of continued improvement in apartment operations — rising market rents and lower vacancy — are in place. Investors’ attraction to the relative stability of this market is growing. This is evident as overseas capital and a greater number of private investors join apartment REITs and private equity players, increasing the competition for market listings and compressing cap rates in their wake. On the employment side, the financial sector has yet to rebuild headcounts to the pre-recession level. The loss of this traditional payroll leader during economic expansion has been replaced with the technology and business services’ broad job growth throughout the metro. These sectors have emerged as the new employment leaders, and the expansions of Google, Microsoft, Facebook and others are having a positive impact not only for the apartment market but also for allied employment sectors generating additional renter demand. Additionally, New York City’s emergence as a venture capital powerhouse, closely trailing Silicon Valley and now ahead of Boston, supports additional demand throughout the market. With sound apartment operations in place, investor competition …
As we come off the high of the holiday season and take a look at how New York retail fared throughout the year, we can expel a deep sigh of relief knowing that the Big Apple continued to recover faster than the national average and has a bright outlook for 2013. While New York City’s retail recovery has been slow and steady, the year closed on a positive note with total retail vacancy rates hovering around two percent. New York City continues to be a one of the most vibrant and growing retail markets in the world as the local economy has seen steady gains in private sector hiring that outweigh cuts in government employment. While Hurricane Sandy dented the recovery, the city rebounded almost immediately with Black Friday weekend sales exceeding expectations. New York’s resiliency and continued low unemployment bodes well for the Big Apple’s continued success. Big Apple Big Deals The New York retail market saw some notable large deals in 2012 including H&M’s new 57,000-square-foot lease and Cartier’s 50,000-square-foot renewal on Fifth Avenue. This coupled with the unprecedented 200,000 square feet available on Fifth Avenue solidifies the opportunity for a successful 2013. While the market has seen …