NEW YORK AND BOSTON — Swedish construction company Skanska has begun a $40 million rehabilitation project for railway company Amtrak. The project will include structural modifications and industrial equipment upgrades for three maintenance facilities located in Boston, New York and Washington D.C. Skanska originally built the facilities 20 years ago and was contracted again to upgrade them to accommodate the upcoming Acela 21 high-speed rail service trains. Construction is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2021, and the new trains will be placed into service late next year.
NEW YORK CITY — JLL has brokered the $10.8 million sale of 219-221 East 59th Street, two adjacent multifamily properties with ground-floor retail space in Midtown Manhattan. Each three-story building spans 10,560 square feet of space, including four residential units and 3,900 square feet of ground-floor retail space that were occupied by separate retail tenants at the time of sale. Tom Gammino and Clint Olsen led a JLL team that represented the seller, Gak Properties, in the transaction. Jeffrey Znaty of Kassin Sabbagh Realty represented the buyer, Cofinance Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Cofinance Group SA.
NEW YORK CITY — Office leasing in Manhattan has slowed amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to a first-quarter 2020 office leasing report by Toronto-based brokerage firm Avison Young. According to the report, Manhattan saw approximately 7 million square feet of new leasing activity in the first quarter of the year, down from 8.4 million year-over-year. The firm reported that leasing volume was down more than 39 percent by the end of March, compared to March 2019. Additionally, eight office construction projects larger than 150,000 square feet have been halted as nonessential construction, and completion dates for those projects have been pushed back indefinitely. Several of those projects, including SL Green’s 1.6 million-square-foot One Vanderbilt in Midtown, have sizable prelease commitments from tenants including TD Bank and law firm Greenberg Traurig.
DEER PARK, N.Y. — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the sale of a 541-unit self-storage property in Deer Park. Located at 541 Acorn St. on Long Island. The 58,500-square-foot facility features 10 one- and two-story buildings that were completed between 2000 and 2003. The property was 83 percent occupied at the time of sale. Mike Mele, Luke Eliott, Robert Bloch and Noah Obuchowski of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, 4 Storage LLC, in the transaction. The buyer was an undisclosed private equity group. The sales price was undisclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has negotiated the $10.2 million sale of the leasehold interest in a ground-floor retail property in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The term of the leasehold is 70 years, and the property is leased to childcare provider Bright Horizons. Brian Segall and Jason Wecker represented the seller, a partnership of 644 Greenwich LLC and Premier Equities. The team also procured the buyer, 27-33 Realty Associates.
YONKERS, N.Y. — A partnership of United Kingdom-based Great Point Capital Management and Connecticut-based National Resources will construct a $100 million film production facility for Lionsgate in Yonkers, a northern suburb of New York City. Located in the i.Park Hudson technology and office campus, the facility will feature 70,000 square feet of studio space as well as additional office space. CIT Group recently provided a $40 million construction loan for the project. Construction will begin soon, and the facility is expected to be at least partially operational by the end of the year.
NEW YORK CITY — JLL has brokered the $18.2 million sale of a development site located at 171 N. 1st St. in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The buyer, Los Angeles-based developer Gemini Rosemont Commercial Real Estate, plans to develop a multifamily property on the site. The lot currently houses a 13,867-square-foot warehouse with 17-foot ceilings that was constructed in 1920. Gemini plans to demolish the warehouse before beginning ground-up construction. No further details of the development plan were disclosed. Brendan Maddigan and Stephen Palmese led a JLL team that represented the seller, Stanislaw Rys/Kevsta Inc.
RYE BROOK, N.Y. — German specialty glass manufacturer Schott Corp. has signed a 14,140-square-foot office lease for its new North American corporate headquarters in Rye Brook, a northeastern suburb of New York. The space is located at 1100 King St. in the Kingsbrook office complex. The company plans to relocate its North American corporate offices from 555 Taxter Road in Elmsford, New York, in the first quarter of 2021. The six-building, 565,000-square-foot office complex features two fitness centers, three cafés and conference facilities. Maureen O’Boyle and Gerry Lees of Cushman & Wakefield represented Schott Corp. in the lease negotiations. Dana Pike represented the landlord, George Comfort & Sons., on an internal basis along with Brian Carcaterra of CBRE.
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has extended temporary business closures due to COVID-19 through April 29. The governor’s order to temporarily close nonessential businesses and schools to limit the spread of the virus began on March 22. Essential businesses, including grocery stores and pharmacies, have remained open, though many operate with limited hours and other restrictions. Some construction will also continue, including projects for housing, medical facilities and homeless shelters. Essential infrastructure and manufacturing businesses including public utilities, transportation and agriculture, will also remain operational. As of April 5, the New York Department of Health had reported 130,689 confirmed cases of the virus in the state.
NEW YORK CITY — Kearny Bank has provided a $28.3 million loan for the refinancing of a 12-building multifamily portfolio in the Union Square and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan. The portfolio spans nearly the entire block of 17th Street between Union Square and Irving Place, including 11 garden-style townhome buildings as well as a 24-unit building located on Cornelia Street in the West Village. John Leslie and Patrick Rhea of ABS Altman Warwick arranged the loan, which carries a fixed interest rate of 3.5 percent with three years of interest-only payments, on behalf of an undisclosed borrower.