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 …
NEW YORK CITY — Hellenic Classical Charter School (HCCS) will open a 36,000-square-foot academic institution for students in grades 3-8 at 1641 Richmond Ave. in Staten Island. HCCS has entered into a ground lease with the owner of the land, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Community, to develop the project. Marty Cottingham, Michael Gottlieb and Patrick Steffens of Avison Young represented HCCS in the ground lease negotiations. HCCS also secured $44 million in bond financing from youth empowerment organization Build NYC to help finance construction of the new building.
NEW YORK CITY — Global asset management firm Blackstone has signed an 80,000-square-foot office lease expansion at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Blackstone’s footprint at the 44-story, 1.9 million-square-foot building now spans 12 full floors and five partial floors for a total of 720,000 square feet. Other tenants at 345 Park, which is owned by Rudin Management Co., include accounting firm KPMG and the National Football League. Tom Keating represented building ownership in the lease negotiations on an internal basis.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based brokerage firm Ariel Property Advisors has negotiated the $4.3 million sale of a 26,787-square-foot commercial building at 1414-1424 Cromwell Ave. in the Mount Eden neighborhood of The Bronx. The property is currently leased to a parking operator but is also zoned for warehouse use. Jason Gold, Michael Tortorici and Daniel Mahfar of Ariel Property Advisors brokered the deal. The buyer and seller were not disclosed.
VALHALLA, N.Y. — HJ Sims has placed $30 million in financing for The Bethel Methodist Home and its continuing care retirement community, The Knolls, in Valhalla, approximately 25 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. The community, which opened in 2002 under the name Westchester Meadows, offers independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing services on one campus.
WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — Locally based brokerage firm Kislak Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. has arranged the $3.9 million sale of a 44,300-square-foot industrial property in the Northern New Jersey community of Whitehouse Station. Peter Wisniewski of Kislak represented the seller, Palumbo Realty LLC, in the transaction. Wisniewski also procured the buyer, 27 Ridge Road LLC.