NEW YORK CITY — Microsoft Corp. has signed a lease for its first Manhattan flagship store at 677 Fifth Ave. in New York City. Microsoft will occupy the entire ground through fourth floors, as well as a portion of the lower level of the building. Andrew Kahn, Jonathan Scibilia and Jesse Hutcher of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, 677 Fifth Avenue Corp., in the deal. Richard Hodos of CBRE represented Microsoft.
NEW YORK CITY — Rosewood Realty Group has brokered the sale of 1539 Park Place in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. 1539 Park Place LLC purchased the property, which was built in 1910, for $5.1 million. Located between Buffalo and Rochester avenues, the four-story, 34,975-square-foot building features 34 residential units. Aaron Jungreis of Rosewood Realty Group represented the buyer, while David Berger, also of Rosewood Realty, represented the seller, Park 1539 Realty LLC, in the transaction.
WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. — Wendel, a design and construction firm, has signed a lease to expand and relocate its Amherst, N.Y., corporate headquarters to Centerpointe Corporate Park in Williamsville. The design firm will occupy approximately 37,000 square feet at 375 Essjay Road in Centerpointe Corporate Park, Ciminelli’s flagship corporate park. Wendel expects to take occupancy in April 2015. This relocation will expand the firm’s office space by 10,000 square feet. Timothy Malchow of Ciminelli Real Estate Corp. represented the owner, Centerpointe Corporate Holdings LLC, in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Meridian Capital Group has arranged $228.5 million in construction financing for the condominium conversion of the former Flatotel hospitality property in New York City. A partnership between Chetrit Group and Clipper Equity plan to convert the asset, which is located at 135West 52th St., into a five-story boutique office condominium and a 37-floorluxury residential condominium property. The 55,000-square-foot office component will be located on floors two through seven and approximately 109residential units will span floors eight through 47. The total project is estimated to cost $300 million. Aaron Birnbaum and Emanuel Westfried of Meridian’s New York City headquarters negotiated the two-year, non-recourse, interest-only loan, which features a floating LIBOR-based interest rate and a one-year extension option.
NEW YORK CITY — A joint venture partnership between The Kalikow Group and MKRO I LLC, an equity venture fund between Massey Knakal and RiverOak Investment Corp., has acquired a six-story multifamily building located at 68 Richardson St. in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. The partnership purchased the asset for $17.5 million from Dabby Investments. Located near McCarren Park, the 32,500-square-foot property features 24 residential units and one ground-floor commercial space. The new owner plans to renovate the building’s façade and common areas, as well as the individual apartment units.
NEW YORK CITY — Madison Realty Capital (MRC) has closed a $32 million construction loan for a mixed-use project at the former 266,322-square-foot St. John’s Queens Hospital, located at 90-02 Queens Blvd. in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens. The construction financing follows an initial $38 million acquisition loan provided by MRC in December 2013, which brings the total financing package from MRC to $70 million. Located along Queens Boulevard between 57th Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard, the property allows for 148,109 square feet of residential space and 118,213 square feet of commercial and community space. Once redeveloped, the project will offer retail space and 144 residential units. Additionally, the purchaser acquired the four-story, 89,601-square-foot parking garage located behind the hospital building, which offers 290 parking spaces and direct access from Queens Boulevard. After the $38 million acquisition loan closed, MRC offered a conditional commitment to fund the remaining renovation of the property once the borrower received approvals on all building plans. St. John’s Queens Hospital has been closed since the hospital’s operator filed for bankruptcy in 2009.
NEW YORK CITY — Cignature Realty Associates has brokered the sale of a 43,160-square-foot residential building, which is located at 880 Saint Nicholas Ave. within the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. The six-story, 36-unit apartment building sold for $7 million. Peter Vanderpool and Lazer Sterhell of Cignature Realty represented both the buyer, 880 St. Nick LLC, and seller, 880 St. Nicholas Avenue Holdings LP, in the transaction.
RIDGEWOOD, N.Y. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of 759 Seneca Ave., an apartment building located in Ridgewood. The five-unit residential property sold for $2 million. Derek Bestreich, Lucien Sproviero and Steve Reynolds of Marcus & Millichap’s Brooklyn office represented the seller, a limited liability company, and the buyer, another limited liability company, in the transaction.
Since 2010, the Brooklyn real estate market has been surging. Over the course of the last four years, the total dollar amount of commercial real estate sales in Brooklyn has increased 397 percent with transaction volume up 151 percent. In 2010, $1 billion of commercial sales were completed, compared to more than $5 billion in 2013 — and projections for commercial sales in Brooklyn for 2014 are more than $6 billion. Retail property sales in the first half of 2014 compared to the first half of 2013 have increased 33 percent in dollar volume and have seen a 12 percent increase in transaction volume. Brooklyn has become a true retail destination, with more national retailers than ever opening up shop. Barney’s Co-op is credited as being one of the first upscale retailers in the borough four years ago. J. Crew, Sephora, Nord-strom Rack and Whole Foods are several of the other nationally known retailers to make the move to Brooklyn. Apple is looking to open its first Brooklyn store, and the potential location of the store continues to be a widely discussed topic. Brooklyn offers a dense concentration of consumers for retailers to serve. According to an economic development report …
The Manhattan office leasing market witnessed a substantial amount of activity in 2013. Surprising moves were made as tenants relocated out of traditional submarkets into emerging submarkets throughout the city. Many well-known companies, such as Condé Nast and Jones Day, made big commitments to move from traditional office space in Midtown to Downtown. The low vacancy rate in the Midtown South market forced tenants to look for outside options. Companies such as Nielsen, Shazam Media Services, and Alloy Digital have moved out of the Midtown South market over the past 12 to 18 months. This movement is expected to continue in 2014. This year started off well. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many early 2014 transactions were carried over from the end of 2013. From January through end of February, a total of 301 lease transactions were signed amounting to 4.4 million square feet of leased space, as compared to 600 transactions closed in the first quarter of 2013. The average Class A vacancy rate throughout Manhattan remained between 9 and 10 percent, while Downtown experienced vacancy in the lower double digits mainly due to new construction. Pockets within the Midtown submarket showed diverging dynamics. For example, the Midtown submarket …