NEW YORK CITY — The General Services Administration (GSA) has tapped Chicago-based architecture and engineering firm Krueck Sexton Partners (KSP) to design the $240 million redevelopment of the Silvio J. Mollo Federal Building in New York City. Constructed in 1974, the 10-story, 160,000-square-foot building is located at 1 St. Andrew’s Plaza in Lower Manhattan and houses the offices of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Marshals Service. Enhancements will include the replacement of all major building systems, modifications to the base building structure and the installation of a new façade. Other building modifications will include the development of a new main entrance, upgrades to the building’s accessibility and security infrastructure and the implementation of a new interior design plan. As part of the project, KSP will also design two floors of swing space at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building at 26 Federal Plaza that will serve as temporary accommodations for building occupants during the modernization. Construction is expected to begin in fall 2023 with completion scheduled for summer 2026.
NEW YORK CITY — Global private equity firm Hellman & Friedman has signed a 27,800-square-foot office lease at 425 Park Avenue, a 47-story tower in Midtown Manhattan that is nearing completion. The firm signed a 15-year lease and will relocate from the nearby Lever House building at 390 Park Ave. during the fourth quarter. Jonathan Serko, Barry Zeller, Andrew Ross, Richard Serko, Ed Donnery and Mike Middleton of Cushman & Wakefield represented Hellman & Friedman in the lease negotiations. Andrew Wiener and David Berkey represented the landlord, L&L Holding Co., on an internal basis.
NEW YORK CITY — JLL has negotiated the sale of Gallivant Times Square, a 336-room hotel located at 234 W. 48th St. in Manhattan. The 16-story building spans 209,851 square feet and offers amenities such as a fitness center, business center and meeting space. In addition, the building houses two restaurant concepts. Jeff Davis, K.C. Patel, Michele Mahl and Nikhil Chuchra of JLL represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. The buyer and sales price were also undisclosed.
BROOKHAVEN, N.Y. — Woodmont Industrial Partners has sold a 130,565-square-foot facility located at 100 Precision Drive in the Long Island town of Brookhaven. BlackRock Real Assets purchased the asset for $30.7 million on behalf of one of its institutional clients. The 12.6-acre property was originally built in 2002 and is located less than half a mile from the Long Island Expressway. Woodmont acquired the asset in 2019 and implemented a capital improvement program.
ROSLYN, N.Y. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $33 million sale of Horizon at Roslyn, a 50-unit, age-restricted apartment building in the New York City suburb of Roslyn. The sales price equates to $660,000 per unit. Michael Tuccillo, Anthony Cerrone and Nicholas Tuccillo of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, Horizon at Roslyn LLC, in the transaction. The trio also procured the buyer, Fairfield Knolls LLC.
WEST ISLIP, N.Y. — Piazzetta Italian Kitchen & Bar has signed a lease to open a 3,000-square-foot restaurant at a 19,757-square-foot retail center in the Long Island hamlet of West Islip. The center is under construction at 425 Union Blvd. and will house other tenants such as 7-Eleven and Brownstone Coffee. Christopher Mayor and Lawrence Densen of Island Associates Real Estate brokered the lease negotiations. The restaurant will be the chain’s fifth.
NEW YORK — JLL Capital Markets has arranged $393 million in construction financing for a project that will convert a 399,029-square-foot office building at ABC/Disney’s former headquarters building in Manhattan into a life sciences facility with purpose-built research and lab space. The borrower, a partnership controlled by New York City-based developer Taconic Partners and investment firm Nuveen Real Estate, purchased the building at 125 West End Ave. in 2019 for $230 million. With the vacating of the property by its primary tenant, which operated out of the building from 1985 until its lease expired in January of this year, the partnership is set to begin construction. The senior lender on the four-year, floating-rate financing package was a fund backed by Apollo Global Management, while Oaktree Capital Finance also provided mezzanine debt for the project. Evan Pariser and Geoff Goldstein of JLL placed the financing. The 125 West End Ave. building is located less than a quarter-mile from Lincoln Square and is close to the 1, 2 and 3 subway lines as well as West Side Highway. Additionally, the project is situated just 18 miles from the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The existing building’s specs allow …
NEW YORK CITY — Ariel Property Advisors has arranged a $4.7 million loan for the refinancing of a 42-unit multifamily building located at 500 W. 111th St. in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood. Matt Swerdlow and Matt Dzbanek of Ariel Property Advisors placed the debt, which was structured with a fixed interest rate of 10 percent for three years and a 40-year amortization schedule, through an undisclosed New Jersey bank. The undisclosed borrower will use a portion of the proceeds to fund capital improvements.
NEW YORK CITY — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $2.5 million sale of a 12-unit apartment complex in Brooklyn. The property comprises two contiguous buildings that feature a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units. John Brennan and Samuel Finkler of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller and buyer in the transaction. Both parties were private investors that requested anonymity.
NEW YORK CITY — WHP Global, a New York City-based firm that acquires global consumer brands, has purchased a controlling stake in Tru Kids Inc., the parent company of Toys ‘R’ Us. WHP Global joins a group of institutional shareholders that includes funds managed by Solus Alternative Asset Management and Ares Management Corp. Going forward, WHP will manage Tru Kids’ global business and direct its strategic expansion, which according to CNBC will include the reopening of some U.S. stores. Neither the network nor the companies involved in the deal specified how many U.S. stores would open or in what markets the reopenings would occur. New Jersey-based Tru Kids announced in 2018 that it would be closing and/or selling off all 735 Toys ‘R’ Us stores in the United States. However, the chain and its sister brand, Babies ‘R’ Us, still operate roughly 900 stores and e-commerce sites in other parts of North America, as well as in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. “Our investment in Toys ‘R’Us reflects our belief and passion for the brand,” said Yehuda Shmidman, chairman and CEO at WHP Global. “We are thrilled to be taking the reins of the world’s leading toy …