Category : Featured

FeaturedRetail

Riese gets that Fridays feeling with two new deals

REW Staff
by REW Staff5735
The Riese Organization has acquired 211 West 34th Street at Seventh Avenue, CEO Dennis Riese announced. The company is offering the space in the heart of Grand Central for lease but, if there are not takers, Riese — one of the largest restaurant management companies in the city — will convert the property itself into a Tequilaville Restaurant & Bar. The firm also secured a long-term lease with TGI Friday's last week. The Friday's deal is for the site originally occupied by Rosie O’Grady’s at 147-149 West 46th Street.
Sitt out to help New York City avoid making biggest mistake in its history
Deals & DealmakersFeatured

Sitt out to help New York City avoid making biggest mistake in its history

REW Staff
by REW Staff869
Ignore the airports at your peril. That's the warning from real estate developer Joe Sitt, who was this week named chairman of a new advocacy group tasked with getting improvements off the ground at New York's three main area airports. Sitt is out to create a U.S. transportation hub in New York that would rival Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson and Chicago’s O’Hare airports. That, the developer says, will continue to drive economic growth in the region and will positively impact the real estate sector. Inaction however, would be disastrous, he said. “Before Atlanta built that hub, the plan was to build it in Birmingham, Alabama,” he said. “But the people of Birmingham started to hesitate. Atlanta went ahead and built it and their economy has been booming ever since. Alabama’s is doing nothing but falling. It’s one of the greatest mistakes that state has ever made in their history.”
Deals & DealmakersFeatured

Brookfield signs 134,000 s/f lease at One Liberty Plaza

REW Staff
by REW Staff1060
Brookfield Office Properties Inc. announced today that it will lease 134,000 s/f at One Liberty Plaza in Lower Manhattan to Transatlantic Reinsurance Company. Transatlantic has leased the space for a 15-year term and will occupy three floors at One Liberty Plaza. The building is now 98.6% leased.Transatlantic took over floors from MF Global Trustee and Sirius America, in addition to a vacant floor, according to a spokeswoman. “We are pleased to welcome the Transatlantic Reinsurance Company to One Liberty Plaza in Lower Manhattan,” said Jerry Larkin, senior vice president, director of leasing New York and Boston Regions. “Given the high level of activity within our Lower Manhattan portfolio, we are optimistic that leasing momentum will continue through the beginning of 2013.”
Deals & DealmakersFeatured

Related buys High Line site

Sarah Trefethen
by Sarah Trefethen917
Related Companies has purchased a potential development site next to the HighLine Park in Chelsea for $65 million, according to city records. The parcel of land, purchased from the Central Iron and Metal Company, offer frontage on both 27th and 28th Streets between 10th and 11th Avenues, and is adjacent to the High Line on 28th.
Deals & DealmakersFeatured

Sitt breaks price records with Mad buy

REW Staff
by REW Staff995
Making it's second big purchase in a week, Thor Equities brought 2013 in with a bang, closing on the $277 million purchase of the landmark Carlton House retail space. Company executives confirmed Wednesday Thor had purchased the 36,000 s/f space from Extell Development Co. “Madison Avenue is so closely identified with luxury and class that the name itself has become synonymous with high-end, so much so that it is essential for any retailer calling itself a ‘luxury brand’ to have a presence on this thoroughfare,” said Joe Sitt, CEO of Thor Equities.
City dangling apartment site at B’lyn Bridge Park
Deals & DealmakersFeatured

City dangling apartment site at B’lyn Bridge Park

Sarah Trefethen
by Sarah Trefethen1084
Developers have a chance to bid on a lease for 9,600 s/f waterfront site on the northern edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park, where up to 130 residential units could be built, according to a request for proposals issued by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation. “The park has drawn thousands of people to the Brooklyn waterfront and is firmly established as one of the most vibrant public places in New York,” the RFP says. “The site will be an exciting addition to a waterfront that attracts residents and visitors seeking remarkable views and world-class park amenities.”
FeaturedGreen Building

Green group giving ex-cons second chance to re-build lives — and homes

REW
by REW1509
A New York City non-profit that branched out into development ten years ago is once again adding to its repertoire — with education. With help from a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Fortune Society recently began offering men and women with criminal histories hands-on training for green jobs in its environmentally friendly Harlem building. “For our clients, they come with so much stigma it’s hard to get them through the door to get looked at,” said Joanne Page, Fortune's CEO. “We want to give them an edge, and green training is a great way to do that.”
Deals & DealmakersFeatured

Tax deadline has brokers in overdrive

Sarah Trefethen
by Sarah Trefethen1049
By Sarah Trefethen Investment sales brokers have been busier than Santa’s elves this holiday season, as investors hustle to close deals before incurring increased federal capital gains taxes in the new year. “It’s insanely busy right now,” said Adelaide Polsinelli of Eastern Consolidated. “I have piles of paper on my desk – I wish I had time to get to all these deals.” Some deals are moving from contract to closing in under a week, she said, and lawyers, bankers and appraisers are all working around the clock to accommodate the accelerated schedule.