NEW YORK CITY — Madison Realty Capital (MRC) has provided a $53.5 million first mortgage loan for the acquisition of a 90,000-square-foot development site located on Metropolitan Avenue and Graham Avenue in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. SL Development acquired the property, which operated as an umbrella factory since 1933. The financing also will also fund the conversion of the asset into a mixed-use property. Upon completion, the development will include 69 residential condominiums with 18 parking spaces and 20,000 square feet of retail. Rawlings Architects designed the project, which will also feature a resident gym and a roof deck. Construction is expected to begin this month and be completed in July 2019. Aaron Appel, Michael Diaz and Alex Witt from Jones Lang LaSalle sourced the deal to MRC and represented the borrower in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — The Britannia Group has negotiated the $23 million sale of a 41-unit apartment property in the South Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Britannia’s Jacob Rogosnitzky and David Zlotnick represented the buyer, a German family, in the acquisition of the property at 218 S. 3rd St.
NEW YORK CITY — Strategic Capital has made a $140 million equity investment for a multifamily development in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan. Strategic’s investment consists of equity and mezzanine components invested in a joint venture with Cape Advisors and Forum Absolute Capital Partners (FACP). Strategic Capital will co-develop the property with Cape Advisors. Strategic Capital is the investment arm of China Construction America (CCA), which is the American subsidiary of China State Construction and Engineering Company (CSCEC). The site is located at 110 Charlton St. and 537 Greenwich St. When complete, the project will span 280,000 square feet with 170 residential units, ground-floor retail and parking. Plaza Construction, an affiliate of Strategic Capital is the general contractor for the project. Construction will begin in June and sales for the condominiums will begin in spring 2018.
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. — A $15 million, 21,000-square-foot expansion of the LaGuardia Community College library is now complete. The college, part of the City University of New York (CUNY), has an enrollment of more than 50,000. The expansion converted a section of the second floor of the college’s E-Building into additional space for the library. The work makes the library 58 percent larger and doubles its capacity to 732 seats. The expansion also includes media rooms, 11 group study rooms, reading rooms, a media lab, faculty suites, archive space and 50 offices.
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has arranged a lease for Viand Cafe at 517 Columbus Ave. in Manhattan. The restaurant has operated a location in the Hotel Beacon at 2130 Broadway for more than 15 years. The restaurant is taking a 1,856-square-foot space at the corner of 85th Street and Columbus Avenue previously occupied by Jackson Hole restaurant, which closed last year. Eastern Consolidated’s Ben Biberaj and Harris Bulow represented Viand Café in negotiating a 15-year lease for the retail space, which includes 70 feet of frontage and a 490-square-foot basement. Rafe Evans and Eric Fisher of Walker Malloy & Co. represented the landlord, Shared Equities LLC.
The news is rife with stories regarding retail bankruptcies, store closures, challenges facing conventional shopping centers, and consolidations by department and specialty stores. Although not immune to some of these challenges, the Manhattan retail environment has enjoyed much activity during the second half of 2016 and the first part of 2017. To be sure, some submarkets and certain retail corridors have seen an increase in vacancies and a corresponding fall in asking rents. However, a number of new retailers have entered the market and certain strong retail brands have right-sized or repositioned themselves in the market. One high-profile shopping center opened its doors, and there is considerable retail development underway. It’s a big story but here are some highlights. Lower Manhattan There has been considerable focus on Lower Manhattan in the past several years, and this continues. On the grand scale, the opening in August 2016 of Westfield’s World Trade Center was the culmination of years in planning, constructing and leasing this $1.4 billion development. This multi-level project contains an assortment of national and international tenants, including fast fashion and better retail stores, such as Victoria’s Secret, Sephora, H&M, John Varvatos and London Jewelers. A 60,000-square-foot Eataly is the principal …
NEW YORK CITY — Equicap has secured a $7.9 million land loan for property in the East Village section of Manhattan. The borrower purchased the development site on Second Avenue for $9.15 million and was seeking bridge financing to carry the project through predevelopment. The proposed building will consist of 19,000 square feet of residential and retail condominiums. Equicap executed a closing at 86 percent of the purchase price for the transaction. A future funding component was also added for potential air rights.
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has negotiated the $52 million sale of a multifamily portfolio consisting of four six-story buildings at 60-68 W. 107th Street between Columbus and Manhattan avenues in the Upper West Side. The four buildings include more than 100,000 square feet and include 100 apartments, of which 25 are two-bedroom units and 75 are three-bedroom units. Eastern Consolidated’s Matt Sparks represented the seller, Suehar Associates, which has owned the buildings for over 60 years. The company’s Ron Solarz procured the buyer, FBE Limited.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — HFF has brokered the $25.3 million sale of One Lincoln Center, a 305,594-square-foot office tower in Syracuse. HFF marketed the property on behalf of a private seller and procured the buyer, Zamir Equities. One Lincoln Center is located in the center of downtown Syracuse at 110 W. Fayette St. The property is surrounded by the Syracuse Federal Building, the Pike Block and city hall. The 17-story property is 86 percent leased to tenants including JPMorgan Chase, Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC, Cadaret Grant & Co LLC, Bousquet Holstein, Grossman St. Amour and Arcadis. The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by Rob Rizzi, Steven Rutman and Michael Oliver.
NEW YORK CITY — NGKF Capital Markets, serving as advisor to Quality Capital, has arranged a $59 million loan for 827-831 Broadway in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood from LoanCore Capital. The loan will be used to recapitalize the multifamily property by retiring existing debt. Jordan Roeschlaub and Daniel Fromm of NGKF Capital Markets brokered the loan for Quality Capital. 827-831 Broadway consists of three interconnected buildings located at 827 Broadway, 831 Broadway and 47 E. 12th St. The property contains 75 feet of frontage on Broadway, with an additional 28 feet on East 12th Street. The owner purchased the property for $60 million in 2016. The residential units have since been vacated and the owner is completing renovations. The owner plans to hold on to the asset for the foreseeable future.