NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated’s capital advisory division has secured a $6 million loan to refinance the ground lease for a 33,636-square-foot shopping center. The property is located at 945 White Plains Road in the Soundview neighborhood of The Bronx. Tenants at the center include Modell’s Sporting Goods, Party City and GameStop. Sam Zabala and Charles Han of Eastern Consolidated represented the borrower, M&M of Bruckner LLC, which is operated by the Modell family, and secured a loan from Signature Bank.
NEW YORK CITY — Natixis has provided a $250 million first mortgage CMBS loan to JEMB Realty for the refinancing of 75 Broad St. in Manhattan. JEMB Realty purchased the office tower in 1999, and has renovated it into a property geared toward high-tech tenants. More than $50 million in improvements have been made to the 34-story, 650,000-square-foot property in recent years. Steve Kohn and Alex Hernandez of Cushman & Wakefield advised the borrower in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Englewood Construction’s retail group has begun construction on a 40,000-square-foot American Girl Place store located at 75 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. American Girl will move to the new space this fall from its current location at 609 Fifth Ave. The 75 Rockefeller Plaza store will be the 12th project Englewood has completed for American Girl since 2008. Cincinnati-based architecture firm FRCH Design Worldwide designed the new American Girl store, which will span two floors with direct entrances from both 51st and 52nd streets.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided an $11.6 million Freddie Mac first mortgage loan for Kings Court Manor Apartments in Rochester. The 184-unit multifamily property was built between 1968 and 1970. Dirk Falardeau of Key’s commercial mortgage group arranged the financing with a seven-year term, two-year interest-only period and a 30-year amortization schedule. The loan was used to refinance existing debt.
GREECE, N.Y. — Colliers International has represented the buyer in the $16.9 million purchase of a freestanding BJ’s Wholesale Club located at 300 Bellwood Dr. in the Rochester suburb of Greece. The net leased structure spans 119,600 square feet on 11 acres and includes 485 parking spaces. The Colliers retail team of William Aiello, George Lulos and Larry Kostelac represented the buyer, Professional Properties LLC.
NEW YORK CITY — TF Cornerstone has secured a $325 million refinancing for Carnegie Hall Tower, a 555,000-square-foot, trophy office property on Manhattan’s “Billionaire’s Row.” The 60-story building is located at 152 W. 57th Street. Carnegie Hall Tower opened in 1991 and was designed by Cesar Pelli. The building features a vaulted entrance and a through-block grand lobby adorned with Italian marble, brass and hardwood accents similar to its landmark neighbor, Carnegie Music Hall. Many floors offer 360-degree views of New York City, including Central Park, the skyline, the Hudson and East rivers and the Atlantic Ocean. “Delivered in 1991 during an economic recession, the property took time to lease up and stabilize,” says Jeremy Shell, executive vice president of TF Cornerstone. “The market was soft but the principals of our firm were persistent in waiting out the vacancies of the early 1990s. [Cornerstone] went to great lengths to keep the property solvent and to ultimately realize their vision for Carnegie Hall Tower.” Some of the tower’s current notable tenants include TR Winston & Company, Metacapital, Kingdon Capital, 13D Management, Grubman Indursky Shire & Meiselas law firm and Greystone & Company. Singer & Bassuk Organization (SBO) arranged the financing through …
NEW YORK CITY — Chef Pino Luongo is opening an Italian restaurant in SoHo at 160 Prince St., a space which housed Milady’s neighborhood bar from the 1930s until 2014. Eastern Consolidated brokered the 15-year, 1,850-square-foot ground-floor lease at the corner of Prince and Thompson streets. James Famularo represented the landlord, while Jeff Geoghegan and Greg Goldberg represented the tenant. Luongo has owned and operated restaurants for more than 30 years. Luongo opened Il Cantinori in the East Village in 1983, followed by Coco Pazzo on the Upper East Side in 1990, Tuscan Square in Rockefeller Center in 1997, Centolire in 2001 and Morso in 2011.
BABYLON, N.Y. — SVN | Realty Three Advisors has negotiated the $2.3 million purchase of the People’s United Bank Building located at 375 Deer Park Ave. in Babylon. An unnamed buyer purchased the net leased retail and office building from 375 Deer Park Avenue LLC. Patricia Posillico of Sperry Van Ness | Realty Three Advisors represented the buyer. Sabre Real Estate Group represented the seller.
NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA AND ST. LOUIS — Urban Edge Properties (NYSE: UE), a real estate investment trust, has entered into a contract to acquire a seven-property portfolio of retail assets for $325 million. The portfolio was 83 percent leased at the time of sale. The portfolio, which spans approximately 1.5 million square feet of leasable space, will consist primarily of retail properties in the New York City area, with holdings in the Philadelphia and St. Louis areas as well. According to CoStar Group, affiliates of New Jersey-based Acklinis Realty Holding LLC have owned the portfolio for the last four decades. The contributors will exchange their interests for approximately $127 million of UE’s operating partnership units, which are valued at $27.02 per unit. Urban Edge will also assume $33 million in existing debt, issue roughly $117 million of non-recourse, secured debt and fund the remaining $48 million in cash. Among the portfolio’s New York City-area properties are Yonkers Gateway Center, a 436,770-square-foot asset located at 2500 Central Park Ave. in Yonkers, which is 88 percent leased to tenants such as Burlington Coat Factory, PetSmart and Alamo Drafthouse; and The Plaza at Woodbridge, a 413,013-square-foot center located at 675 U.S. Highway 1 in …
NEW YORK CITY — Tishman Speyer has unveiled plans for development of The Wheeler, a 10-story office hub to be located above the Macy’s department store in downtown Brooklyn. The Wheeler, named for 19th century Brooklyn developer Andrew Wheeler, will include 620,000 square feet of office space. Features will include 16-foot ceilings on each floor, an acre of outdoor space, a dedicated amenity floor and views of the New York skyline. The project is scheduled for completion in mid-2019. Construction financing, which was arranged by HFF, is being provided by Bank of the Ozarks.