ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has extended a ban on evictions due to nonpayment of rent through August 20 for both residential and commercial tenants that have had difficulties paying rent and preserving their businesses amid the ongoing COVID-19 health and economic crisis. The governor originally issued the executive order banning new cases of rent-related evictions on March 20 with the expectation of keeping it in effect for three months. Additional updates to the executive order include rent relief in the form of bans on late fees for missed payments, as well as a new provision that allows renters to use their security deposit as rent payment. As of May 7, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported nearly 319,000 cases of the virus in New York and more than 25,700 deaths.
WESTBURY, N.Y. — Sanders Equities, a New York-based developer, will convert a retail asset in the Long Island city of Westbury as a 153,000-square-foot industrial building. Located at 1085 Old Country Road, the property is situated on a seven-acre site and includes a 192,000-square-foot building, which is currently occupied by a Century 21 department store. Upon Century 21’s exit in spring 2021, Sanders plans to downsize the property to 153,000 square feet and remove the second floor, which will increase the ceiling height to 32 feet. Paul Leone and Margaret Tutone of CBRE will lead the leasing effort of the new industrial asset. The terms and sales price of the acquisition were undisclosed.
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — The total number of customer transactions at restaurant chains nationwide showed improvement for the second week in a row during the week ending April 26, according study by The NPD Group (NPD), a market research company headquartered in New York. The study indicated that total customer transactions were down 32 percent for the week ending Sunday, April 26 relative to that time a year ago. Transaction volume had been down 36 percent for the week ending Sunday, April 19, relative to that time in 2019. Most restaurants in the country have been either closed outright or are operating with severe restrictions since the COVID-19 outbreak began. Even as the economy slowly restarts state-by-state, many consumers remain hesitant to return to dining rooms. NPD reported that approximately 20,000 restaurants restarted in Georgia on April 27, followed by 60,000 in Texas, with both states enforcing strict guidelines for reduced occupancy and heightened sanitation. While more than 300,000 restaurants may potentially reopen for dine-in service in the coming weeks, NPD notes that an unknown number of restaurants may not be able to afford to ever open again. In New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus in the Northeast, restaurants …
NEW YORK CITY — SL Green Realty Corp. has sold 609 Fifth Avenue, an office and retail condominium in Manhattan, to an affiliate of the Reuben Brothers for $168 million. Beginning in 2018, SL Green undertook an extensive repositioning of the entire building, including vacating the previous tenants in the office condominium portion of the property and relocating the office lobby to increase the retail frontage on Fifth Avenue. Sports apparel brand PUMA has leased a 24,000-square-foot retail space at the building for its three-level flagship store. Luxury apparel retailer Vince has leased a 5,000-square-foot retail space in the building. Darcy Stacom, Doug Middleton and David Fowler of CBRE represented SL Green in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — In an unprecedented response to unclean conditions amid the COVID-19 outbreak, New York City has ceased its 24-hour subway system, implementing overnight closures beginning in the early morning on May 6. The system’s 472 stations closed for deep cleaning from 1:00 a.m to 5:00 a.m. and will remain closed during those hours until further notice. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the shutdown in response to unsafe conditions, including increased crime and homeless sheltering in the subway, despite the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reporting a 90 percent drop in ridership to less than 500,000 passengers per day. New York City remains the epicenter of the virus, and the state had more than 312,800 cases and 24,700 deaths as of May 5, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
MELVILLE, N.Y. — A&G Real Estate Partners (A&G), a Melville, New York-based firm, has launched a structured investment sales division. The four-person team will expand A&G’s in-house capabilities to include sealed bid and live auctions, portfolio sales, note sales and sale-leaseback transactions. A&G previously specialized in brokerage and consulting services for traditional retail, industrial, office and higher education properties. The new team will broaden the firm’s overall range of asset classes served to include investment properties and development projects in the hospitality, multifamily and shopping center sectors. The team includes Jeff Hubbard, Katie DeCoste and Christian Koulichkov, who will all work in A&G’s Melville office, and Jamie Coté, who will work in the firm’s Chicago office.
HACKENSACK, N.J., AND WESTBURY, N.Y. — Sitex Group, a New Jersey-based developer, has acquired two commercial development sites totaling 32 acres in the Meadowlands (New Jersey) and Long Island submarkets. No sales price was disclosed. The sites include a 10-acre tract located at 514-582 S. River St. in Hackensack and a 22.5-acre parcel in Westbury, a city on Long Island. Specific construction plans were not disclosed. Dan Foley and Chris Marx of Savills negotiated the Hackensack transaction. Mark Walsh of Select Real Equity Advisors, along with Jason Miller and Jeffrey Schwartzberg of Premier Commercial Real Estate, negotiated the Westbury transaction. Both sellers were private investors that requested anonymity.
NEW YORK CITY — SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG) has formed a joint venture partnership with the National Pension Service of Korea (NPS) and Hines for the $2.3 billion redevelopment of One Madison Avenue in Manhattan. The 1.4 million-square-foot office project is situated in the borough’s Midtown South neighborhood facing Madison Square Park near the 23rd Street subway station. SL Green, which is self-described as Manhattan’s largest office landlord, has sold a 49.5 percent interest in One Madison Avenue to NPS and Hines, which have combined to invest “no less than $492.2 million” of equity into the redevelopment. SL Green and Hines are co-developing the project, and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) is leading the design. The SL Green-NPS-Hines-KPF team is also working together to develop One Vanderbilt Avenue, an office project currently underway in Manhattan’s East Midtown neighborhood. The existing office building at One Madison Avenue will be demolished down to the ninth floor, and the development group will build 17 glass and steel, column-free floors above. The podium levels at the base of the existing building will have 90,000 square foot floor plates, while the new floors above will feature 36,000-square-foot floor plates. The 10th and 11th …
ALBANY, N.Y. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has arranged a $29.4 million loan for the refinancing of Auden Albany Student Housing, a 322-bed community serving students attending the University at Albany in Upstate New York. The fixed-rate Fannie Mae loan is structured with a 12-year term and a 36-month interest-only period. The community features amenities including a fitness center, game room, yoga studio and clubhouse. Erik Storz and Pete Rand of KeyBank arranged the loan on behalf of the borrower, DMG Investments.
NEW YORK CITY — J.Crew Group Inc., which operates the J.Crew and Madewell fashion retail brands, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company hopes to restructure its debt while aiming to eventually reopen its stores in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinos Holdings Inc., the parent company of J.Crew, filed the voluntary petitions for protection on Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Virginia. In a statement, the New York City-based retailer said its lenders and stakeholders agreed to convert $1.6 billion of debt into equity. Typically in a debt-to-equity conversion, lenders receive ownership of a company in exchange for cancelling existing debt. With this conversion, creditors will now own about 82 percent of the company, per The Wall Street Journal. The company also said it has secured $400 million in debtor-in-possession financing to exit debt structures with existing lenders such as Anchorage Capital Group and GSO Capital Partners. Between these initiatives, the company believes it can reopen many stores that have been temporarily shuttered amid the COVID-19 outbreak. As of May 1, J.Crew Group Inc. operated 181 J.Crew retail stores, 140 Madewell stores and 170 factory stores. “This agreement with our lenders …