NEW YORK CITY — Locally based investment and development firm RFR has sold 522 Fifth Avenue, a 600,000-square-foot office building in Midtown Manhattan. The 23-story building was originally constructed in 1896 and has served as the corporate headquarters facility for both J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley at various points in time. RFR acquired 522 Fifth Avenue from Morgan Stanley for $350 million in 2020 and repositioned the building by acquiring the retail condominium, redeveloping the lobby, enlarging the windows and activating over 17,000 square feet of outdoor space. The undisclosed buyer also plans to occupy the building. No third-party brokers were involved in the sale.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — CBRE has arranged a 33,843-square-foot office lease at Newport Office Center in Jersey City. The tenant, Berkley Insurance, will occupy a portion of the ninth floor of Newport Office Center III, a 15-story, 620,000-square-foot building. Howard Fiddle, Benjamin Joseph, Greg Barkan and Erin Wenzler of CBRE, along with internal agents Meredith Jackness, Ray Kawas and Tim Johnson, represented the landlord, LeFrak, in the lease negotiations. The tenant representative was not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Mudrick Capital Management has signed a 12-year, 26,600-square-foot office headquarters lease in Midtown Manhattan. The investment management firm plans to relocate and expand from 527 Madison Avenue to the 16th floor of 31 West 52nd Street early next year. Patrick Heeg, Thomas Hines and Chase Gordon of Transwestern represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Frank Doyle, David Kleiner and Andrew Coe of JLL, along with internal agents Peter Brindley, Doug Neye and Sean Kirk, represented the landlord, Paramount Group.
COMMACK, N.Y. — My Gym, a global children’s fitness concept, will open a 3,000-square-foot facility in the Long Island community of Commack. The facility will be located next to Planet Fitness within the 222,000-square-foot Mayfair Shopping Center. E.J. Moawad of Levin Management Corp. represented the landlord in the lease negotiations. Juliana Chiarelli and Jason Sobel of RIPCO Real Estate represented My Gym.
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — CBRE has brokered the sale of a multifamily development site in White Plains, located north of New York City. The 1.3-acre site at 1 Water St. is located on the eastern edge of the downtown area, directly adjacent to the local public transit station. A partnership between David Gaber of Bijou Properties and Kavneet Sethi of Green Property LLC purchased the site, which is approved for the development of a 301-unit high-rise building, from New Jersey-based Veris Residential. Jeffrey Dunne, Eric Apfel and Travis Langer of CBRE brokered the deal.
DOVER, DEL. — JLAM, an investment and development firm with offices in Delaware and Charlotte, is underway on construction of Windward Ridge, a 300-unit apartment community in Dover. The community will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom units and amenities such as a clubhouse, pool, yoga and fitness studios and wooded walking trails. Leasing is expected to begin sometime next year. Project partners include Architectural Alliance Inc., Erin Marshall Interior Designs, Morris & Ritchie Associates Inc. (civil engineer) and Christiana Excavating (sitework contractor). A general contractor has not yet been selected.
DELAWARE — Largo Capital, a financial intermediary based in upstate New York, has arranged a $14.5 million CMBS permanent loan for a portfolio of three manufactured housing properties totaling 342 sites in Delaware. The names and addresses of the properties, which collectively span more than 100 acres and were 94 percent occupied at the time of loan closing, were not disclosed. Jack Phillips of Largo Capital originated the nonrecourse, interest-only loan. The borrower and direct lender were also not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Law firm Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP has signed a 121,000-square-foot office lease at 1301 Avenue of the Americas, a 45-story, 1.8 million-square-foot building in Midtown Manhattan. The lease term is 16.5 years, and approximately 30,000 square feet is short-term space. Frank Doyle, David Kleiner and Andrew Coe of JLL represented the landlord, New York City-based Paramount Group, in the lease negotiations. Mark Weiss of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant.
WILMINGTON, DEL. — NAI Emory Hill has negotiated an 18,790-square-foot retail lease in Wilmington. Lexus of Wilmington has leased the building at 3401 N. Market St., which features six lifts, 18-foot ceilings and three drive-in doors, to house its new automotive repair facility. Rich Dudek of NAI Emory Hill represented the undisclosed landlord in the lease negotiations.
NEW YORK CITY — LMXD, an affiliate of New York City-based L&M Development Partners, and residential developer Ray have begun leasing a 21-story multifamily and civic project in Harlem. Designed by Frida Escobedo Architects and Handel Architects, the National Black Theatre & Ray Harlem houses 222 mixed-income apartments, commercial space along 125th Street and a multi-purpose room that is open to the community. Units come in studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans. Residential amenities include a communal kitchen and outdoor grilling stations, a coworking lounge, fitness center and yoga studio, library curated by Phaidon Press, living room lounge and two outdoor terraces. In addition, the site features a 27,000-square-foot home for the National Black Theatre. This space houses offices, classrooms, a 250-seat performance venue, a 99-seat flexible studio theater and a set-building shop to support workforce development in theatrical trades. Construction topped out in fall 2023.