New_York

Cove Property Group Obtains $479M in Construction Financing for 25-Story Office Tower in Manhattan

by Nellie Day November 8, 2017

NEW YORK CITY — Cove Property Group and an institutional partner have received $479 million in construction financing for Hudson Commons, a 701,364-square-foot trophy office building in the Hudson Yards/Penn Plaza submarket of Manhattan. The 25-story building is located at 441 Ninth Ave. between 34th and 35th streets. Hudson Commons will comprise a 17-story structure atop an existing eight-story building. The development will feature 14 private terraces and balconies and onsite basement parking for up to 140 vehicles. The design will incorporate varied floor plans with high ceilings, as well as sustainable elements, such as terraces and green roofs. Kohn Pedersen Fox is designing Hudson Commons. The new building will be equidistant between Penn Station and the new 7 Train extension that services Hudson Yards. It will also feature access to the Port Authority and Lincoln Tunnel. Cove Property Group purchased the asset in December 2016 for $330 million. EmblemHealth had owned the existing 423,000-square-foot building since 1994. The structure was originally built as a warehouse in 1962 before it was converted to office space in 1983. Loan proceeds will reposition and redevelop the asset into a Class A office tower with full-block frontage along Ninth Avenue. The project is …

November 8, 2017

New York Northeast Office Top Stories

Columbia Property Trust Buys Two Office Properties in Manhattan for $514M

by Nellie Day October 13, 2017

NEW YORK CITY — Columbia Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: CXP) has purchased two office properties in the Chelsea submarket of New York for $514 million. The acquisition includes two adjoining office buildings that total 281,294 square feet at 245-249 W. 17th St., as well as a 165,670-square-foot office building at 218 W. 18th St. The seller was not disclosed. Twitter’s New York headquarters occupies the majority of the boutique buildings on 17th Street. The adjoining buildings include a six-story western tower and a 12-story eastern tower that serves as a showroom for the high-end modern furniture chain Room & Board. The nearby 12-story building on 18th Street houses the New York City headquarters of beverage and lifestyle company Red Bull, along with several other office tenants. This acquisition has allowed Columbia to increase its New York presence to a total of 2.6 million square feet of Class A office space spread throughout seven assets. This represents 44 percent of the trust’s overall portfolio. “Our acquisition of these prime Midtown South buildings allows us to expand within New York, where we already held the largest concentration in our portfolio, and will further establish Columbia as a significant player in Manhattan’s most dynamic …

October 13, 2017

Multifamily New York Northeast Top Stories

Fortis Property Group Obtains $297M Construction Loan for 325,000 SF Mixed-Use Project in Brooklyn

by Nellie Day September 13, 2017

NEW YORK CITY — Fortis Property Group has received a $297 million construction loan to develop River Park, a three-building mixed-use project in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. The 325,000-square-foot project will feature 172 luxury condominium units, 66,900 square feet of community space and 328 parking spaces. Fortis acquired 18 buildings on three adjacent sites that formerly housed the Long Island College Hospital (LICH) medical campus. The company purchased LICH in 2015 for $240 million from the State University of New York. Fortis financed the first phase of the acquisition with a $107.25 million bridge loan from Madison Realty Capital (MRC). The new loan proceeds from MRC will be used to retire the previous bridge loan and complete construction of the three luxury residential condominium buildings. This includes a waterfront tower at 350 Hicks St. (“1 River Park”); a high-rise condominium tower at 95 Pacific St. (“2 River Park”); and a contextual condominium building at 349 Henry St./112 Pacific St. (“5 River Park”). River Park 1, 2 and 5 will anchor the new Brooklyn Waterfront District. Rogers Partners is designing the properties. Brooklyn-based Fortis Property Group is a real estate investment, operations and development company. It has acquired, developed …

September 13, 2017

Hospitality New York Northeast Top Stories

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Sells Dumont NYC for $118M

by Nellie Day June 21, 2017

NEW YORK — Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) has sold the 252-room Dumont NYC in New York for $118 million. The transaction marks Pebblebrook’s exit from the New York market. The upper upscale hotel is located at 150 E. 34th St. at Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. It was built in 1986. The buyer was LeFrak Organization, which plans to convert the hotel into apartments, according to The Real Deal. Dumont NYC was previously part of a six-hotel portfolio Pebblebrook held with joint venture partner Denihan Hospitality Group. Denihan Investments completed a redemption agreement with Pebblebrook that transferred ownership of the jointly owned hotels in October. Denihan became the sole owner of four of the assets. This included The Benjamin, Fifty NYC, Gardens NYC and Shelburne NYC for a total of 917 rooms. Pebblebrook assumed full ownership of Dumont NYC and Manhattan NYC, totaling 870 rooms. Manhattan NYC was then sold to a joint venture between Sioni Group, Patriarch Equities and Highgate for $217.5 million. It was rebranded as the Stewart Hotel. Proceeds from the Dumont NYC sale will be used for general business purposes, which may include reducing Pebblebrook’s outstanding debt or repurchasing some of the company’s common shares. “With …

June 21, 2017

New York Northeast Office Top Stories

GIC, Paramount Group Buy Wall Street Office Tower for $1B

by Nellie Day January 25, 2017

NEW YORK CITY — A joint venture between GIC and Paramount Group has acquired a 1.6 million-square-foot office tower in New York City for $1 billion. The 47-story tower is located at 60 Wall St. in the Financial District of downtown Manhattan. The property is fully leased. It serves as the U.S. headquarters of Deutsche Bank. GIC, a sovereign wealth fund based in Singapore, has a 95 percent stake in the joint venture, while Paramount Group holds the remaining 5 percent. Paramount managed and owned about 5 percent of the property through its ownership in certain private equity funds prior to the acquisition. The joint venture also received $575 million in financing for the property in relation to the acquisition. “This investment reflects our long-term confidence in downtown Manhattan, which is benefitting from over $30 billion of recent public and private investments in infrastructure and new construction,” says Adam Gallistel, GIC’s regional head of Americas. “We believe 60 Wall St. is one of the top buildings in downtown and is poised to benefit from the ongoing downtown renaissance.” Deutsche Bank announced plans to renovate the office space in late 2016. It purchased the asset from J.P. Morgan & Co. in …

January 25, 2017

Northeast Office Top Stories

New York REIT, JBG to Merge, Creating $8.4B REIT

by Nellie Day May 26, 2016

NEW YORK CITY — New York REIT (NYSE: NYRT) has agreed to acquire all properties of JBG Cos. and some of its private funds, creating an $8.4 billion real estate investment trust (REIT) named JBG Realty Trust. JBG Realty Trust’s portfolio will span more than 14.5 million square feet of office, residential and retail properties across the gateway markets of New York City and Washington, D.C. The properties are concentrated in transportation-served, urban-infill submarkets. The combined company will be headquartered in Chevy Chase, Md., with a regional office in New York City. JBG has received all required approvals for the transaction from its owners and JBG Fund Advisory Committee members. The board of directors of NYRT has approved the merger agreement and recommended that its stockholders approve the issuance of common stock and operating partnership units in the transaction. JBG Cos. will receive 319.9 million shares of common stock and operating partnership units of NYRT in exchange for the contributed JBG properties. NYRT stockholders will own about 34.8 percent of the combined company’s shares and units, while JBG equity holders will own about 65.2 percent once the deal is complete. The Eastdil Secured group of Wells Fargo Securities acted as …

May 26, 2016

Top Stories

HBS Global Buys Galeria Retail Portfolio Valued at $3B

by Nellie Day October 5, 2015

LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK CITY — HBS Global Properties has purchased the 41-property Galeria Kaufhof portfolio that is valued at $3 billion. The portfolio consists of marquee retail locations across the United States and Germany. The seller was Metro Group. The buy contains flagship department stores in Beverly Hills, Calif.; the greater New York area; as well as Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt, Germany. It also contains properties in other metropolitan and suburban centers. Galeria Kaufhof is the leading department store chain in Germany and Belgium. The properties generate annual cash rents of $274 million. This gives the portfolio a value of about $4.8 billion based on a blended cap rate of 5.75 percent. HBS Global Properties is a real estate joint venture between Hudson’s Bay Co. and Simon Property Group. Lee Neibart, CEO of HBS Global Properties, will oversee the newly acquired portfolio, with support from Hudson’s Bay Co. and Simon. “With the close of the acquisition, HBS Global Properties is taking an important step forward in its next chapter of growth,” says Richard Baker, chairman of HBS. “This joint venture will benefit from a strong foundation of HBC properties, now including GALERIA Kaufhof, whose tremendous value has been …

October 5, 2015

Top Stories

Stone Street Acquires Two Apartment Properties in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park for $123M

by Nellie Day September 28, 2015

NEW YORK CITY — Stone Street Properties has acquired two apartment properties in the Gramercy Park submarket of New York City for a total of $123 million. The properties are located at 210 and 220 E. 22nd St. They are situated just east of the Flatiron District, near the East River. The buildings sold for a little more than $1,030 per square foot. The acquisition includes 208 rental units, with an average rent of $3,450 per month. The communities are situated near Peter Cooper Village, the National Arts Club and the Union Square Subway. They are one block from Gramercy Park. The property at 210 E. 22nd St. was built in 1982. It features 88 units throughout eight floors. Amenities include a doorman, elevator, laundry facilities on every floor and an on-site super. The property at 220 22nd St. was built in 1930. It features 122 units throughout six stories. This community also features a doorman, elevator and an on-site super. Broad Street Development and Crow Holdings originally listed the properties for sale this past April for a targeted price of $130 million. The partners purchased the property for $85 million in 2012. Broad and Crow have invested about $4 …

September 28, 2015

Top Stories

Fairstead, Blackstone Buy Nearly 1,000 Multifamily Units in Manhattan for $690M

by Nellie Day September 14, 2015

NEW YORK — Fairstead Capital and Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII have purchased a multifamily portfolio containing nearly 1,000 free-market rental units in Manhattan for $690 million. The acquisition includes 24 mid-rise rental properties situated in the Chelsea and Upper East Side neighborhoods. The new owners plan to upgrade the properties’ common areas. The partners will also add new amenities and carry out a capital improvement plan to renovate the units. The Caiola Family sold the portfolio. It was previously managed by B&L Management Company, which was founded by Benny Caiola in 1980. Family-owned B&L Management owns, acquires, develops and manages residential and retail properties in New York City and Long Island. The portfolio buy comes on the heels of Blackstone’s purchase of a shopping mall and parking garage in Queens for $400 million. That sale closed in late June. New York-based Blackstone currently has about $92 billion in investor capital under management. Fairstead Capital is a real estate investor and asset manager specializing in New York City multifamily properties. The firm owns and manages $2.3 billion of property, which includes more than 4,750 rental units.

September 14, 2015

Top Stories

LOTTE Group Buys New York Palace Hotel for $805M

by Nellie Day August 31, 2015

NEW YORK — The LOTTE Group has purchased the 909-room New York Palace Hotel in Midtown for $805 million. The hotel is located on the corner of 50th Street and Madison Avenue. It is situated across from St Patrick’s Cathedral. The New York Palace underwent a $160 million redesign in fall 2013. It included new lobbies and specialty suites, 24,000 square feet of refreshed event space and improvements to the property’s restaurants and lounges. The acquisition also includes Villard Mansion, which was originally constructed in 1884. The property runs from 50th to 51st Street on Madison Avenue. It was restored concurrently with the adjacent New York Palace. The New York Palace has been featured on the television show “Gossip Girl.” It has also hosted Tony Award parties, New York Fashion Week events and holiday tree lightings with Miss America. The hotel will be operated by Hotel Lotte Co Ltd, a new company that was formed after the Palace was purchased. It will now be known as Lotte New York Palace. The LOTTE Group is one of the largest Korean conglomerates. Its revenue in 2013 was $74 billion. This acquisition marks the largest single American asset acquisition by a Korean company, …

August 31, 2015

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