"rockefeller group"

NEW YORK CITY — Meridian Capital Group LLC has secured $230 million in acquisition financing for the purchase of Steinway Hall building, a 247,000-square-foot, 16-story office building on West 57th St. in Midtown Manhattan. The commercial real estate finance and advisory firm arranged the one-year, interest-only loan on behalf of the borrower, a partnership led by JDS Development Group. Aaron Appel and Moshe Majeski, managing directors of Meridian Capital, originated and executed the fixed-rate financing, which features two six-month extension options. According to the Wall Street Journal, Steinway Musical Instruments Inc. (NYSE: LVB) sold its interest in the Steinway Hall building to the partnership led by JDS Development Group in June. In the transaction, Steinway received a cash purchase price of $46.3 million. Steinway Hall, built in 1924, was designated and registered as a historic and cultural landmark in 2001. Since its construction, the building has been either fully or partially occupied by Steinway & Sons, the famous piano-maker. The façade of the building features an ornate carving above the grand window, and the main room of the building is a two-story rotunda with a domed ceiling. The property is situated between Sixth and Seventh avenues in Manhattan, with direct …

NEW YORK CITY — New York City-based Meridian Capital Group LLC negotiated $115 million in acquisition and construction financing for the purchase and redevelopment of the Flatotel, a 47-story vacant hotel in New York City. Meridian arranged the loan on behalf of the borrower, a partnership between Chetrit Group and Clipper Equity. Chetrit Group and Clipper Equity have previous experience with hotel conversions and renovations in the New York City metro area, including the Empire Hotel, Hotel Chelsea, BellTel Lofts and Columbus Square. The partnership purchased the vacant hotel from a venture between Rockpoint Group, Atlas Capital and Procaccianti Group. The Flatotel property is currently configured as a 288-room hotel with 14,000 square feet of meeting space. Chetrit and Clipper plan to convert the asset into a five-floor, 64,400-square-foot boutique office condominium property and a 37-floor, 173-unit luxury residential condominium property. The office component will span floors two through seven and the residential portion will span floors eight through 47. The buyer estimates the cost for the repositioning at $250 million. Ronnie Levine, managing director of Meridian Capital Group, and Emanuel Westfried, the firm’s vice president, arranged the loan. The three-year, nonrecourse, interest-only loan features a floating LIBOR-based interest rate …

NEW YORK CITY — Related Cos. and OMERS Investment have teamed up to build Hudson Yards, a 26-acre mixed-use development that is expected to be the centerpiece of midtown Manhattan’s Central Business District expansion. Hudson Yards is reported to cost approximately $15 billion, according to multiple news sources. The site was once a rail yard and the largest single piece of undeveloped property in Manhattan. The partnership kicked off Hudson Yards’ construction on Tuesday by breaking ground on the 1.7 million-square-foot South Tower, a 47-story office building located at the northeast corner of 10th Avenue and 30th Street in Manhattan. Upon completion, Coach Inc., the New York City-based designer and maker of luxury handbags, will occupy nearly 740,000 square feet in the building to use as its global headquarters. “Coach continues to expand both in America and around the world, underscoring the need for a new global headquarters that is as modern and dynamic as the brand itself,” says Lew Frankfort, chairman and CEO of Coach Inc. “New York is part of Coach’s DNA and we are as bullish on the revitalization of the Hudson Yards neighborhood as we are on the unparalleled vibrancy and future of New York City.” …

NEW YORK CITY — A partnership between Jamestown Properties, Rockwood Capital, Crown Acquisitions and Murray Hill Properties has purchased the 500,000-square-foot Bank of New York Building, located at 530 Fifth Ave. in New York City, for $390 million. The Moinian Group and The Chetrit Group were the sellers of the office and retail property. The Bank of New York Building, completed in 1959, is positioned in the heart of the Grand Central district and occupies an entire block of Fifth Avenue between 44th and 45th streets. “We believe 530 Fifth Avenue’s dynamic location and physical attributes provide a strong foundation on which ownership can improve and re-establish the building as a top-tier asset,” said Arne Arnesen, senior managing director of Rockwood, in a prepared statement. “This building epitomizes our strategy of investing in well-located real estate that provides opportunity to outperform over the long term.” Crown Acquisition and Murray Hill Properties will undertake a $20 million renovation of the building, which will include a full Class-A lobby renovation with a new security system, a new building entrance on Fifth Avenue, mechanical and electrical upgrades throughout the building, new elevators and a reconfiguration of the mezzanine-level floors to accommodate additional retail …

NEW YORK CITY — Spanish retail giant Inditex Group has acquired a Fifth Avenue retail condominium for a whopping $324 million. The 38,750-square-foot condo, which is located at 666 Fifth Ave., traded for $8,361 per square foot — reportedly one of the highest prices ever paid for retail space in the United States. The seller was a joint venture between The Caryle Group and Crown Acquisitions, which purchased the entire 90,000-square-foot retail portion of the building from Cushner Cos. in 2008 for $525 million. With the condo's prime location, it is easy to see why it could fetch such a steep price. It is located near Rockefeller Center, the Museum of Modern Art and St. Patrick's Cathedral. It is on the same block as the flagship stores for Uniqlo and Hollister. New York-based real estate investment banking firm Savills helped arranged the deal on behalf of Inditex. The transaction included negotiating an early lease termination for the condo's tenant, the NBA Store, so Inditex could bring its apparel brand Zara into the location. “There is no better retail in Manhattan and our client has reinforced this through their acquisition,” said Borja Sierra, CEO of Savills Europe, in a statement. “Rather …