NEW YORK CITY — Madison Realty Capital (MRC) has provided a $50 million first mortgage loan for the development of a mixed-use project in Brooklyn that will include 41 residential units and 12,625 square feet of ground-floor retail space. An office building and additional development site located in the borough’s Broadway Triangle neighborhood partially collateralize the loan. According to local media sources, the borrowers were Abraham Brach and Parkview Management, which will use the proceeds to retire existing debt and fund construction of the mixed-use property. Construction is expected to be complete by the fourth quarter.
As the second-largest city economy in the world, New York City continually retains its reputation as one of the most desirable locations for long-term real estate capital appreciation, both nationally and globally. In turn, increasing rent growth and decreasing vacancies have characterized the New York City multifamily market as the influx of supply in 2018 quickly gets absorbed. In the next 24 months, the city will see a dramatic reduction in the new supply of rentals, with current projections for 2019 to 2020 estimating 12,000 units to come on line. This figure represents a substantial decrease from the 20,680 units that were delivered in 2018. Of those 20,680 units, Queens and Brooklyn accounted for more than 50 percent of the new supply. Despite these deliveries, effective rent grew in 2018 by 2.9 percent in Manhattan, 2.2 percent in Brooklyn and 3 percent in Queens. Total multifamily sales volume in Manhattan for 2018 was $6.8 billion, an 83 percent increase from 2017’s total transaction volume of $3.7 billion. With 181 total transactions, properties that traded for more than $50 million made up 65 percent of the volume in 2018 across 22 trades. Similarly, sales in Brooklyn hit a record volume of …
NEW YORK CITY — Savanna, a real estate owner and developer based in New York City, has purchased a 39-story office tower in Midtown Manhattan for $381 million. The nearly 500,000-square-foot building is located at 521 Fifth Ave., which is near the corner of 43rd Street and one block from Grand Central Station in New York City. The seller is a joint venture between SL Green Realty Corp., Quantum Global Real Estate and LaSalle Investment Management. Bill Shanahan, Darcy Stacom, David Fowler and Doug Middleton of CBRE represented the joint venture in the sale. Built in 1929, the office tower is LEED Gold-certified and Energy Star-rated, but Savanna plans to make significant capital improvements to the asset. More specifically, the renovation includes a complete entrance and lobby overhaul, new signage, selective systems upgrades and common corridor work. “After we make a few select cosmetic improvements, we believe this property will be well-positioned for a successful leasing campaign,” says Andrew Fichte, managing director of Savanna. Savanna has selected a CBRE team led by Peter Turchin and David Hollander as the leasing agent for the office tower. At year-end 2018, the build was more than 96 percent leased to tenants including China …
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based investment and development firm GFP Real Estate has acquired 675 Avenue of the Americas (AOA), a 311,000-square-foot office and retail building located in the Flatiron District of Manhattan. Originally constructed in 1901 to house the Adams Dry Goods department store, the Class A property houses the headquarters of several major companies, including Weight Watchers, Nielsen and Trader Joe’s. GFP partnered on the sale with tech firm Guidepoint, which will occupy a 50,000-square-foot headquarters space within the building and retain minority ownership in it. Dustin Stolly, Jordan Roeschlaub, Nick Scribani, Chris Kramer and Paul Talbot of Newmark Knight Frank arranged an undisclosed amount of acquisition financing through Signature Bank for the deal. The seller and sales price were not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — KeyBank’s community lending and investment team has closed a $42 million Fannie Mae loan for the Phase II renovation of Twin Parks West, a 311-unit affordable housing property located in The Bronx. A portion of the proceeds will also be used to refinance existing debt on the asset. Tabare Borbon of KeyBank closed the loan, which carried a fixed interest rate, 15-year term, 35-year amortization schedule and five years of interest-only payments. The borrower was a joint venture between Gilbane Development Co., Kraus Management, Apex Building Group and Dantes Partners.
NEW YORK CITY — Madison Realty Capital (MRC) has provided a $30 million loan for the development of a 17-story mixed-use project in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens. Proceeds will be used to cover various pre-construction costs. The project, located at the former site of the RKO Keith’s Theater, will ultimately feature 269 residential units, 17,000 square feet of retail space, 15,000 square feet of additional communal space and 305 parking spaces. MRC provided the loan to Xinyuan Real Estate, which plans to demolish the existing structure by February 2020 and commence construction shortly thereafter.
PELHAM MANOR, N.Y. — New Jersey-based Cronheim Mortgage has placed $30 million in permanent financing for Post Road Plaza, a 257,593-square-foot regional shopping center in Pelham Manor, about 20 miles north of Manhattan. Transamerica Financial Life Insurance Co. provided the 15-year loan, which amortizes over 30 years. Post Road Plaza, which was built in the early 1960s, comprises a two-story primary retail strip, a one-story secondary strip and three outparcel buildings. A 75,000-square-foot Fairway supermarket anchors the property, which also houses a Dave & Buster’s, 24 Hour Fitness, HomeGoods, Lane Bryant, Smashburger and Sally Beauty Supply. The borrower was not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Aries Capital LLC, a Chicago-based commercial mortgage and investment banking firm, has closed a $6.5 million CMBS loan for the refinancing of a 16,500-square-foot manufacturing facility in Brooklyn. The property is located at 413 20th St. in the borough’s Greenwood Heights neighborhood and was fully leased at the time of sale to Sedona Marble & Granite, which is also a part owner of the building. Neil Freeman and Brandon Perdeck of Aries Capital handled the transaction on behalf of the borrower, New York-based TKS Development Group. The nonrecourse loan carried a 10-year term, 75 percent loan-to-value ratio and 30-year amortization schedule.
NEW YORK CITY — JLL has negotiated a 19,799-square-foot office sublease at 1 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan on behalf of Quontic Bank, a privately held financial institution. The company will occupy the ninth floor of the 36-story building for the next six years. Tishman Speyer owns the property. Alexander Chudnoff, Benjamin Bass and Harrison Potter of JLL represented Quontic Bank in the lease negotiations. Greg Taubin, Scott Bogetti and Sean Hoffman of Savills Inc. represented the sublandlord, Trammo, which distributes fertilizers and chemicals.
MONTICELLO, N.Y. — Manhattan-based RAL Development Services has completed The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark, a 324-room hotel and resort located in the Upstate New York city of Monticello. Located about 90 minutes outside New York City at the former site of The Concord Resort, The Kartrite’s signature feature is a two-acre indoor water park, the largest such attraction in the state. The property offers an array of other amenities for children, including a rock climbing wall, ropes and obstacle course, arcade games, mini-bowling alley and a laser tag arena. The Kartrite also houses eight uniquely themed restaurants and bars, a spa, pools and 11,000 square feet of conference and meeting space.