NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated’s retail leasing division has arranged a 10-year lease at 48 Macdougal St. in SoHo for Raku, a Japanese restaurant. It will be Raku’s second location in Manhattan. The restaurant will occupy a 1,200-square-foot space located between West Houston and Prince Streets. Eastern Consolidated’s Joe Robinson arranged the lease for Raku, and David Graff of Compass represented the landlord.
NEW YORK CITY — On behalf of Li & Associates Development, Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the sale of a 16,500-buildable-square-foot development site at 296-300 St. Nicholas Ave. in Bushwick, Brooklyn to 300 St. Nicholas LLC. The all-cash transaction was valued at $4.5 million or approximately $273 per buildable square foot.
NEW YORK CITY — Brookfield Property Partners and JLL today announced that Rauxa, an independent advertising agency, will expand and relocate its New York operations with a move to 225 Liberty St. at Brookfield Place New York in Lower Manhattan. The company has signed a 50,000-square-foot, 11-year lease at the Class A, 2.7 million-square-foot office tower. The agency will relocate its New York office from SoHo. JLL’s Paul Glickman, John Wheeler, Michael Berman and Clayton Kline represented Brookfield Properties in the transaction. JLL’s Steven Rotter, Justin Haber and Richard Miller represented Rauxa. Rauxa will occupy part of the 43rd floor and the entire 44th floor at 225 Liberty St., which is located at the intersection of Liberty and West streets. The 44-story building was constructed in 1987.
NEW YORK CITY – Construction manager Richter+Ratner (R+R) and architect Beyer Blinder Belle have completed the interior fit-out of Xavier High School’s 45,000-square-foot Fernandez-Duminuco Hall. The project is located on six floors and the cellar level of a 25-story mixed-use building at 35 W. 15th St. Xavier is a Jesuit college preparatory school for young men founded in 1847 in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The school’s campus includes six buildings located alongside the Church of Saint Francis Xavier. Fernandez-Duminuco Hall is Xavier’s first campus expansion in more than 90 years. The $11.7 million, nine-month project called for the construction of a science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) classroom, music facilities, a recording studio, student project space and a multi-use area that hosts theater productions and major assemblies. Fernandez-Duminuco Hall is located within a larger 170,000-square foot, 330-foot tall luxury residential condominium tower named 35XV, which was designed by FXFowle. The developer, Alchemy Properties, obtained the air rights for the new building from Xavier High School in exchange for locating the hall inside the new development. In addition to R+R, Beyer Blinder Belle and McLaren Engineering, the project team included owner’s representative Sterling Project Development; structural engineer for the …
NEW YORK CITY – Madison Realty Capital (MRC), an institutionally-backed real estate investment firm focused on real estate equity and debt investments, has provided an $18 million first mortgage loan to finance the acquisition of an eight-property, 64,438-square-foot mixed-use portfolio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The portfolio consists of 3 Sutton St., 5 Sutton St., 657 Meeker Ave., 661 Meeker Ave., 667 Meeker Ave., 669 Meeker Ave., 673 Meeker Ave. and 164-166 Kingsland Ave. The buyer contributed $11 million of cash equity to complete the acquisition, and plans to maximize value through renovation and repositioning. In total, there are 73 market rate residential units and 14 commercial units in the portfolio. Rosewood Realty Group’s Aaron Jungreis, Ben Khakshoor and Mike Kerwin brokered the deal.
EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. – HFF has secured the $15.1 million sale of Columbia Plaza, a 137,647-square-foot grocery-anchored retail center in East Greenbush. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a partnership between Capstone Realty Group and WP Realty. Nigro Cos., based in Albany, N.Y., purchased the asset free and clear of existing debt. Anchored by Price Chopper, Columbia Plaza is 89.3 percent leased and home to Peebles, Dollar Tree, Pet Stop, Vineyard Wine & Spirit, Nishiki Sushi, Hair Studio One, Liberty Tax Service, Quality Hearing, NBT Bank and Computer Answers. The three-building center was completed in 1988. Situated on 14.6 acres at 501 Columbia Turnpike, Columbia Plaza is located 3.5 miles southeast of Albany. The center’s Columbia Turnpike location places it in one of the main retail corridors in East Greenbush, a community located along the Hudson River. Columbia Turnpike is accessible from Interstates 8, 787 and 90 in addition to State Highways 151, 43 and 9J. The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by Jose Cruz, Kevin O’Hearn, Michael Oliver and Stephen Simonelli with assistance from Andrew Scandalios.
NEW YORK CITY — Jonathan Rose Cos. is purchasing Forest City Realty Trust’s affordable housing business in a deal valued at more than $500 million. The acquisition includes 48 affordable housing communities in seven states, totaling nearly 8,500 units; Forest City Capital, an MAP-designated FHA lender; and Forest City’s affordable housing property management group. The purchase will bring Jonathan Rose Cos.’s total unit count to more than 15,000 nationwide and expand its operations to 15 states and the District of Columbia. The properties, management company and mortgage company will be rebranded with the Rose Communities name. The management company will be renamed Rose Community Management and the finance company will become Rose Community Capital. The transactions are scheduled to close throughout the first and second quarter. The management company and Forest City Capital are slated to transfer on March 1. The acquisitions have been approved by Forest City’s board and the closings, which require HUD approvals, will continue through the spring.
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Urstadt Biddle Properties has completed the disposition of its Westchester Pavilion property, a former power center mall in White Plains. Maple and Broadway Holdings, a subsidiary of Lennar Corp. through its Lennar Multi-Family Communities, acquired the site for $56.6 million. The buyer plans to raze the property and develop a high-end, mixed-used property with residential and retail space.
NEW YORK CITY — Hornig Capital Partners and Brickman Real Estate are redeveloping a former box manufacturing building into Box Factory, an office and retail property located at 1519 Decatur St. on the Queens-Brooklyn border of Ridgewood and Bushwick. Fogarty Finger Architecture is designing the $10 million renovation, which will bring 55,570 square feet of office space and 7,430 square feet of retail space to the area. Completion is slated for June 2017. ABS Partners Real Estate is marketing the office portion of the project, while Ripco Realty is marketing the retail portion.
NEW YORK CITY — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated the sale of a development site located at 233 Butler St. in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn. Private investors sold the property to an undisclosed buyer for $9.5 million, or $300 per buildable square foot. The development site is zoned M1-2, which allows for commercial development of 31,800 square feet. The site is currently improved by a two-story, 13,447-square-foot structure, which was once home to the Brooklyn headquarters for American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A majority of the land was vacant at the time of sale, while 5,400 square feet of building space will remain leased until September. Winfield Clifford of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the transaction.