NEW YORK CITY — CBRE has negotiated a 17-year, 128,749-square-foot office lease renewal and expansion at 55 Water Street, a 4 million-square-foot complex in Lower Manhattan. The tenant, financial services provider GFI Group Inc., has renewed its lease for 63,756 square feet across the entire 10th floor and committed to an additional 64,993 square feet across the entire 11th floor. Howard Fiddle, Bradley Gerla, Evan Haskell and William Hooks of CBRE represented the owner, New Water Street Corp., in the lease negotiations. Jared Horowitz and Hal Stein of Newmark represented GFI Group, which has been a tenant at the complex since 2007.
NEW YORK CITY — Electra USA has signed a 10-year, 25,331-square-foot office lease in Midtown Manhattan. The electrical contractor will occupy the entire fourth and 31st floors at 10 E. 53rd St., a 37-story building that recently underwent a capital improvement program that upgraded the lobby, façade and outdoor plazas. Joseph Cirone, Patrick Dugan and Zachary Price of CBRE represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. The landlord, SL Green, was self-represented.
NEW YORK CITY — Walker & Dunlop has arranged a $285 million loan for the refinancing of Greenpoint Central, a newly constructed, 473-unit multifamily property located in the Brooklyn neighborhood of the same name. TPG Real Estate Credit provided the loan to the borrower and developer, an affiliate of New York City-based Madison Realty Capital. Sean Reimer, Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Adam Schwartz, Keith Kurland, Dustin Stolly, Ari Hirt, Cole Grims and Nicholas Gilhooley of Walker & Dunlop arranged the debt. Ownership will use proceeds to retire construction debt, support funding reserves and return equity to investors. Greenpoint Central is split between two buildings located at 75 Dupont St. (Phase I) and 65 Dupont St. (Phase II). The property offers studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, 70 percent of which are rented at market rates and 30 percent of which are subject to income restrictions. Amenities include a fitness center, media lounge, game room, coworking space, golf simulator, children’s playroom, pickleball court and a rooftop deck with grilling and dining stations. The property also features 19,589 square feet of retail space on the ground and cellar floors. “The area’s evolving waterfront, cultural institutions and creative community continue to attract renters, creating sustained demand in the …
NEW YORK CITY — Marcus & Millichap has negotiated the sale of two multifamily development sites in Brooklyn. The combined sales price was $11.7 million. The adjoining sites at 2425 and 2413 Atlantic Ave. are located in the Ocean Hill neighborhood and offer a total of roughly 142,000 buildable square feet. Matthew Peters of Marcus & Millichap represented the sellers in the transactions and procured the buyer, a local private investor. All parties requested anonymity.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Community Preservation Corp. (CPC) has provided a $4.5 million construction loan for a multifamily conversion project in Syracuse. The project will transform the former William Howard Taft School in the city’s Eastwood neighborhood, which opened in 1907 and closed in 1964, into a 28-unit rental complex. The unit mix will comprise six one-bedroom residences and 22 two-bedroom apartments. The developer is Skinner Properties.
NEW YORK CITY — Upstart has signed a seven-year, 15,356-square-foot office lease in Midtown Manhattan. The AI-driven lending platform will occupy the entire 33rd floor at NoMad Tower, a 39-story building located at 1250 Broadway. Scott Brown of Newmark represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Paul Glickman, Benjamin Bass, Kristen Morgan, Harrison Potter and Diana Biasotti of JLL, along with internal agents Craig Panzirer and Alex Radmin, represented the landlord, Global Holdings.
NEW YORK CITY — CBRE has arranged the sale of a 20-property last-mile distribution and light-manufacturing industrial portfolio across eight states. New York City-based Ares Commercial Real Estate Corp. (NYSE: ACRE) acquired the portfolio, which spans more than 3 million square feet. Brian Fiumara led CBRE’s National Partners team in marketing the portfolio and representing the undisclosed seller in the transaction. The CBRE team also procured the buyer. The properties include: The industrial portfolio consists of well-maintained industrial buildings ranging in size from 16,000 to 500,000 square feet, while average occupancy across the properties currently sits at 95 percent. “The acquisition by Ares allows the company to expand its existing portfolio with a critical mass of light industrial and well-located last-mile assets in major population centers with access to key distribution infrastructure,” says Fiumara. ACRE is a real estate investment trust (REIT) managed by Ares Commercial Real Estate Management LLC, a subsidiary of Ares Management Corp., which manages approximately $596 billion of assets. ACRE’s stock price closed on Thursday, Dec. 4 at $5.15 per share, down from $6.98 a year ago, a nearly 26 percent decline. — Abby Cox
NEW YORK CITY — JLL Capital Markets has arranged $175 million in construction financing for 155 Third Street, a 22-story, 300-unit apartment tower to be built along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. JLL secured the loan on behalf of the borrower, locally based Monadnock Development. Situated at the confluence of the Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Park Slope and downtown Brooklyn neighborhoods, 155 Third Street will encompass more than 250,000 net rentable square feet, including 225 market-rate apartments, 75 affordable housing units and more than 30,000 square feet of retail, artist and commercial space. The project is vested in the Affordable New York (421-a) tax abatement. Completion is slated for the fourth quarter of 2027. Amenities will include a pool and terrace, sky lounge, fitness and yoga studios, coworking spaces, a cocktail lounge with fireplace, movie and party rooms and multiple outdoor areas with views of New York Harbor and downtown Brooklyn. The development’s retail frontage along the Gowanus waterfront will tie directly into the planned 7-acre Gowanus Greenway Esplanade, which is part of the larger Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, a protected route for pedestrians and cyclists connecting the neighborhoods, parks and open spaces of Brooklyn’s waterfront. Christopher Peck, Winfield Clifford, Kellogg Gaines …
WATERTOWN AND EVANS MILL, N.Y. — Connecticut-based investment firm Storage Ventures has acquired a portfolio of five self-storage facilities totaling more than 2,100 units in upstate New York. The portfolio spans approximately 273,000 net rentable square feet, and the sale also included a 12,000-square-foot retail center. All properties are located within the communities of Watertown and Evans Mill. Storage Ventures acquired the portfolio in partnership with SmartStop Self Storage REIT. The seller and sales price were not disclosed.
“If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.” Martin Scorsese, Frank Sinatra and Jay-Z probably weren’t thinking about brick-and-mortar retail real estate when they penned and recorded the iconic song lyric, but that doesn’t make the expression any less applicable to that particular subject. The notion of merchandisers, restaurateurs and entertainment operators needing a certain and precise combination of savvy, moxie and pizzazz to succeed in New York City isn’t so much new as it is resurrected. That’s because it’s only been a few years since the asset class was left for dead. But retail resiliency is now an established and proven narrative that underpins commercial real estate investment. “Brick-and-mortar retail is truly here to stay,” proclaims Beth Rosen, executive vice president at RIPCO Real Estate. “Over the years, retailers have gotten so much more savvy and are now entering into smarter deals. There’s a lot of positive sentiment about the sector, which has seen its share of ups and downs. Rents got really out of control at one point, and if the economy wasn’t strong, retailers didn’t survive. But now, it’s really more about partnerships between tenants and landlords.” Limited Options That said, owners …