NEW YORK CITY — Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. (BREIT) has entered into an agreement to acquire Simply Self Storage from an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management for $1.2 billion. Brookfield acquired Simply Self Storage, whose operating portfolio spans approximately 8 million square feet across the country, in 2016 through one of its funds. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as legal advisor to BREIT, and BofA Securities and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are serving as financial advisors to BREIT. RBC Capital Markets LLC, Newmark Group Inc. and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP advised Brookfield. BREIT currently owns a $300 million portfolio of self-storage facilities. Following this acquisition, BREIT will be the third-largest non-listed owner of self-storage in the country. Self-storage, which is typically viewed as a recession-resistant asset class, has seen its rates of absorption and leasing of new units rebound over the summer following a lull in move-in activity that normally occurs in the spring. Self-storage owner-operators expect some of the truncated move-in activity from spring and summer to be offset by the fact that in-person classes at many major universities have …
NEW YORK CITY — The Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC) has unveiled plans for a $1.4 billion multifamily project in Manhattan’s Seaport District. The proposal calls for the transformation of a full-block surface parking lot along the boundary of the South Street Seaport Historic District into a mixed-income development that would include some of the area’s first new affordable housing in decades. The development would ultimately feature 360 apartments, about 25 percent of which would be affordable, as well as 260 condominium units. In terms of the multifamily component, the centerpiece is 250 Water Street, where Dallas-based HHC plans to develop at least 100 affordable apartments that would be reserved for households earning 40 percent or less of the area median income. Only 2.5 percent of all housing in the Seaport District qualifies as affordable, and the median household income is more than $150,000. The project would also rehabilitate the historic South Street Seaport Museum, which has faced numerous obstacles over the past two decades, including a two-year closure following 9/11, flooding from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and an existential threat to attendance from COVID-19. In addition, HHC would develop a new museum building on an adjacent vacant lot. The …
NEW YORK CITY — Centric Brands Inc., which sources, markets and sells apparel for men, women and children, has signed a 212,154-square-foot office lease at the Empire State Building. The space was previously leased to Global Brands Group and occupied by Centric Brands under a sublease. Peter Riguardi, Joseph Messina and Cynthia Wasserberger of JLL represented Centric Brands in the lease negotiations. Anthony Malkin, Ryan Kass and Shanae Ursini represented the landlord, Empire State Realty Trust, on an internal basis.
LONG BEACH, N.Y. — Inland Real Estate Acquisitions has purchased 10 West Apartments, a 109-unit oceanfront multifamily property in Long Beach. The 11-story property features one studio, 67 one-bedroom, 38 two-bedroom and three three-bedroom units that are furnished with quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, individual washers and dryers and private balconies. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, library and a lounge area. The building was renovated between 2013 and 2018 following Hurricane Sandy and was 99 percent occupied at the time of sale. The seller was not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — JLL has arranged a $27.5 million loan for the refinancing of a 44-unit apartment building located at 812-814 Amsterdam Ave. on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The 15-story building was completed in March and houses 12,302 square feet of retail space. Units come in studio, one- and two-bedroom formats and range in size from 414 to 1,167 square feet. Scott Aiese, Peter Rotchford, Alex Staikos and Andrew Cohen of JLL arranged the loan through MetLife on behalf of the borrower, a partnership between Invictus Real Estate Partners LLC and MJM Associate Contracting LLC. Proceeds were used to retire the original construction loan and mezzanine financing.
NEW YORK CITY — A partnership between Strategic Capital, Cape Advisors and Forum Absolute Capital Partners has opened Greenwich West, a 170-unit multifamily condominium project located at 110 Charlton St. in the West Soho neighborhood of Manhattan. Designed by Parisian architecture firm Loca Anima and interior designer Sebastien Segers, Greenwich West features studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, with prices ranging from $1.1 million to $7.9 million. Amenities include a 24-hour attended lobby, a rooftop terrace with multiple outdoor seating areas, a fitness center with a yoga studio and a children’s play area. Plaza Construction served as the general contractor for the 30-story building.
NEW YORK CITY — ORIX Real Estate Capital, a New York-based business unit of ORIX Corp. USA, has rebranded as Lument. In making this change, Lument is unifying its legacy brands — Hunt Real Estate Capital, Lancaster Pollard and RED Capital Group — under a single banner. ORIX acquired RED in 2010, Lancaster Pollard in 2017 and Hunt in 2019. The company announced plans earlier this year to combine the three real estate finance companies under one banner.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based firm Rosewood Realty Group has brokered the $11.5 million sale of an 80-unit apartment building located at 2055 Anthony Ave. in the Fordham Heights area of The Bronx. The property was built in 1920 and spans 74,580 square feet. Aaron Jungreis of Rosewood Realty represented the seller, Morgan Group, and the buyer, locally based investment firm Parkash Group, in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Vincent Theurer, CEO of Approved Oil, has acquired a 49-unit apartment building at 417-441 40th St. in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. The property sold for $9 million, or roughly $183,000 per unit. Adam Hess, Edward Setton and Lane Matalon of Meridian Capital Group represented the seller, Ilan Goldstein of Slope Realty, in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Total commercial and residential investment sales volume in New York City declined 47 percent between September 2019 and September 2020 as buyers and sellers have both grappled with economic uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). In addition, the report found that the volume of tax revenue generated for both the city and state during that period fell by 36 percent. Through the first nine months of the year, the city has experienced a total commercial and residential investment sales volume of $21.5 billion, a 45 percent decline compared with that period in 2019, causing a 42 percent decrease in tax revenue. The report did note that total sales volume across both commercial and residential assets rose by 9 percent between August and September, fueled mainly by a 43 percent month-to-month increase in the latter category.