NEW YORK CITY — CBRE has secured a 30,688-square-foot office sublease at One SoHo Square, a 768,000-square-foot building located at 233 Spring St. in Manhattan’s Hudson Square district. Harly Stevens, Jared Freede and Josh Pernice of CBRE represented the subtenant, e-commerce marketing platform Yotpo, which is relocating from 400 Lafayette Street, in the negotiations. The original tenant was Flatiron Health. Stellar Management owns One SoHo Square.
PHILADELPHIA — UBS Financial Services has signed a 22,625-square-foot office lease at 1735 Market Street, a 54-story building in downtown Philadelphia. UBS will relocate within the building to a space on the 44th floor in August 2023. Jack Meyers of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Internal agents Jeremy Moss and Keith Cody, along with Anthony LiVecchi, Tom Weitzel and Mitch Marcus of JLL, represented the landlord, a partnership between Silverstein Properties and Arden Group.
Elizabeth Barnes, COO of NAI Plotkin, knows property management is always a labor- and people-intensive profession, no matter the day or time of year. In that regard, the pandemic did not change the best practices for the Springfield, Mass.-based full-service brokerage and management company. “The number-one best practice has always been — and remains to this day — to manage the property as if you own it, with the awareness that you don’t,” Barnes says. Treat the Asset as Your Own For Barnes, this means focusing on the asset’s value at all times. “Common area maintenance (CAM) reconciliation, capital planning, value engineering options — they need to be front and center,” she continues. “It’s not just about cutting expenses. Look at how you can add value or reduce upfront costs.” All this should be done, she states, with the owner’s goals for the property in mind. Those goals may differ based on whether the owner is, for example, looking to divest the asset. Or if the tenant’s space has gone dark. Or if a pandemic is occurring. “There is a definite focus on health and safety now, regardless of the product type,” Barnes says. “Many owners wanted HVAC and air-handling …
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Walker & Dunlop has arranged an $85.4 million bridge loan for the refinancing of City Line East and City Line West, two adjacent apartment complexes totaling 342 units in Jersey City. Both properties are located within the University Place mixed-use development and feature studio, one- and two-bedroom units and Class A amenities. John Banas, Kris Wood, Christopher Philipps, John Wilson, Rhett Saltiel and Erik DiGirolamo of Walker & Dunlop arranged the two-year, fixed-rate loan through an undisclosed debt fund on behalf of the New Jersey-based borrower.
NEW YORK CITY — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the $40 million sale of a 63-unit multifamily property located at 223 Fourth Ave. in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. The newly constructed, 13-story building houses 18 studios, 34 one-bedroom units, nine two-bedroom apartments and two duplexes. Residences are furnished with quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, dishwashers and in-unit washers and dryers. Amenities include a lounge with coworking space, rooftop terrace, media room and bike storage space. HUBB NYC acquired the property from Greystone Development. Dan O’Brien, Adam Spies, Adam Doneger and Avery Silverstein of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the deal.
QUAKERTOWN, PA. — New Jersey-based Cronheim Mortgage has arranged $9 million in permanent financing for a 210,000-square-foot shopping center in Quakertown, located north of Philadelphia in Bucks County. Anchored by grocer Giant, the unnamed center also houses tenants such as Rite Aid, Buffalo Wild Wings, H&R Block and Panera Bread. Allison Villamagna and Andrew Stewart of Cronheim Mortgage arranged the financing on behalf of the borrower, a subsidiary of New York City-based ADCO Group. An undisclosed life insurance company provided the loan.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based brokerage firm Rosewood Realty Group has negotiated the $6.8 million sale of a five-story building in Brooklyn’s Borough Park neighborhood that comprises four four-bedroom apartments and 6,611 square feet of retail space. Aaron Jungreis, Ben Khakshoor and Alex Fuchs of Rosewood Realty represented both private investors involved in the deal, which traded at a cap rate of 4.9 percent. The building was originally constructed in 1930.
TOTOWA, N.J. — Total Wine & More has opened a 32,000-square-foot store at Totowa Square, a 258,000-square-foot retail power center in Northern New Jersey. The retailer is backfilling a space formerly occupied by Babies ‘R’ Us. Brian Katz and Amy Staats of Katz & Associates represented the landlord in the lease negotiations. Brian Schuster of Ripco Real Estate represented the tenant.
By Jason Penighetti, attorney, Koeppel Martone & Leistman LLC In a far-reaching decision, New York’s highest court has affirmed the rights of tenants under a commercial net lease to protest assessments and reduce their real property tax burden. The ruling reversed a State Supreme Court dismissal of a petition on the grounds that only a property’s owner can file an administrative grievance with the Board of Assessment Review. In a net lease, the tenant is responsible for paying real estate taxes and other expenses stated in the lease. In the matter of DCH Auto vs. Town of Mamaroneck, the Court of Appeals in June 2022 published a unanimous decision stating that tenants contractually obligated to pay real estate taxes and authorized to protest assessments may file tax appeals even when they do not hold title to the underlying real estate. Restoring a Precedent DCH Auto operated a car dealership in a net leased property in Mamaroneck, New York. Its lease with the owner required DCH to pay the property’s real estate taxes in addition to rent. Commercial tenants with this type of lease commonly file tax appeals to correct excessive tax bills and mitigate operating costs. These occupiers include retailers …
BOSTON — A partnership between Lendlease and Ivanhoe Cambridge has broken ground on a $500 million life sciences project within Boston Landing, a mixed-use destination in the Allston/Brighton area. The nine-story, 350,000-square-foot building at 60 Guest St. will be branded FORUM and will feature traditional office space in addition to lab and research/development space. SGA Architects is designing the project, and Consigli Construction Co. is serving as the general contractor. Completion is slated for 2024. The partnership first acquired the land for the project from NB Development Group, the master developer of Boston Landing, in March 2021.
