NEW YORK CITY — Maefield Development has acquired the leasehold interest in the DoubleTree Hotel, located at 1568 Broadway in Times Square. Sunstone Hotel Investors sold the 468-room asset for an undisclosed price. The acquisition is part of a planned redevelopment of the property into a premier cultural, entertainment, retail and hospitality experience. The redevelopment will include a renovated luxury hotel, prime street-front retail and entertainment space, a large high-resolution LED screen, and the restoration and enhancement of the Palace Theatre. Construction is slated to begin in the first half of 2017.
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has brokered the sale of a 70,000-square-foot office building located at 22-24 W. 38th St. in Midtown. Dalan Management acquired the asset for $43.5 million. The 12-story property features ground-floor retail space. Ron Solarz and Nataliya Stemakh of Eastern Consolidated represented the seller, 22 West 38th Street Associates LLC, while Ben Tapper, also of Eastern Consolidated, represented the buyer in the transaction. Gary Meese of Eastern Consolidated served as analyst for the deal.
MAMARONECK, N.Y. — Houlihan-Parnes Realtors has secured a $1.6 million first mortgage loan for a retail building located at 587-621 E. Boston Post Road in Mamaroneck. The seven-year, non-recourse loan has a 3.75 percent fixed-interest rate with interest-only payments for two years and a 30-year amortization schedule. The 15,270-square-foot building features 12 retailers. Bryan Houlihan and Mike O’Neill of Houlihan-Parnes arranged the financing through a local bank for the undisclosed borrower.
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — Breslin Realty has arranged a lease at 1740 Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow for The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille. The newly constructed 6,500-square-foot free-standing restaurant will be the franchise’s second Long Island location. The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille offers American comfort food with an emphasis on local, regional and national sports. Judy Pascucci of Beslin Realty negotiated the lease transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Icon Realty Management has sold two six-story, fully renovated apartment buildings in the East Village to a South Carolina-based investor for $20 million, or $1 million per unit. Located at 326-328 E. Fourth St., the properties feature two two-bedroom units, 15 three-bedroom units, one four-bedroom unit and two five bedroom apartments. Each apartment features hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, oak-paneled walls, Carrera marble countertops, recessed lighting, marble bathrooms and exposed brick. Additionally, all units have self-contained heating and air conditioning systems and in-unit washers/dryers. Peter Von Der Ahe, Joe Koicim, David Lloyd and Corey Isdaner of Marcus & Millichap’s Manhattan office represented the seller, while Von Der Ahe, Koicim, Isdaner and Sean Lefkovits, also of Marcus & Millichap, procured the buyer in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Avison Young has arranged the sale of Studio House, a 16-unit multifamily property located at 239 E. 77th St. on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Hanna Graham Associates acquired the asset from Boris Lurie Art Foundation for $7.5 million, or $1,042 per square foot. Neil Helman and Eric Karmitz of Avison Young represented both the buyer and seller in the transaction.
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Regan Development Corp. has completed Homesteads on Ampersand, a 64-unit affordable housing community located at 292 Rugar St. in Plattsburgh. The eco-friendly community features four two-story buildings featuring 24 one-bedroom, 20 two-bedroom and 20 three-bedroom units, as well as a community building. The property features on-site management, a laundry facility, community room, library and computer center, as well as 73 surface parking spaces. Additionally, units feature Energy Star appliances, carpet, air conditioning and storage. Irvine, Calif.-based WNC, a national investor in real estate and community development initiatives, provided $7.1 million in low-income housing tax credit equity for the new development, which was constructed in one year.
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has arranged the sale of a mixed-use building located at 157 E. 55th St. in New York’s Midtown East district. Goldie Moss Irrevocable Trust sold the 5,700-square-foot property to 157E55 Owner LLC for $10 million. The property features two vacant full-floor apartments on the top two levels and Darbar Grill, a popular restaurant, on the lower two levels. Additionally, the building features substantial air rights allowing for approximately 20,000 square feet of residential uses and 30,000 square feet of commercial or community facility space. Brian Ezratty and Scott Ellard of Eastern Consolidated represented the seller and procured the buyer in the sale.
RIDGEWOOD, N.Y. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of an apartment building located at 2048 Gates Ave. in Ridgewood. The six-unit rental property sold for $1.3 million. Shaun Riney, Thomas Shihadeh and George Koncilja of Marcus & Millichap’s Brooklyn office represented the seller, an individual/personal trust, and the buyer, a limited liability company, in the transaction. The property was fully occupied at the time of sale.
In the Capital Region, an industrial/warehouse market with a little over 63 million square feet of space (spread over a 10-county area), vacancy rates have returned to pre-recession levels. It has been a long and steady climb out of a deep recessionary market, which hit this sector of the market the hardest during 2009. During that time, vacancy rates were hovering around the 11 percent mark. In the second quarter of this year, the regional vacancy rate stood at 7.3 percent. Compare this figure to the fourth quarter of 2014, when the vacancy rate was 8.9 percent. As a region, we are again enjoying the absorption of industrial space, as some regional operators expand and some new faces enter the market. We are constantly examining and reviewing the market to understand the current activity, and to anticipate and prepare for the coming trends and changes. So what has lead to the Capital District’s industrial/warehouse market recovery? Several factors are responsible. First and foremost, the overall recovery of both the national and local economies has played a significant role in our industrial recovery. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the United States stood at 5.3 percent …