Category : Featured

Deals & DealmakersFeatured

Fred F. French and Tommy Bahama ready to enjoy one long weekend in NYC

REW Staff
by REW Staff1000
By Al Barbarino Executives with Tommy Bahama scoured “dozens” of locations for their international flagship before signing a 12-year lease at the Fred F. French building in early 2011, Rob Goldberg, SVP of marketing and restaurants tells Real Estate Weekly. The process was equally laborious for the building manager and part-owner of the property, The Feil Organization, whose executives said they screened just as many tenants before signing Tommy Bahama. The 13,000 s/f retail store, bar and restaurant is set to open at 551 Fifth Ave. – between 45th and 46th Streets – in mid-November, at what the company considers to be one of the city’s “international crossroads.”
Real estate rocks out for relief
Featured

Real estate rocks out for relief

REW Staff
by REW Staff763
Leaders in real estate took the stage Oct. 24 to help the Jewish Disaster Response Corps at the second annual “Real Estate Rockers in Relief” concert. The concert, held at The Canal Room at 285 West Broadway, drew more than 100 supporters and raised awareness and funds for The Jewish Disaster Response Corps (JDRC), a faith-based initiative that assists all communities in domestic disaster recovery while exhibiting Jewish values and promoting broad and visible Jewish participation.
Deals & DealmakersFeatured

New Report a stitch in time for Garment District?

REW Staff
by REW Staff883
Urban planning nonprofit, The Design Trust for Public Space, is warning that “time is running out” to cultivate the Garment District into an economic engine that will create jobs and grow city revenue. Some view the huge losses in the city’s manufacturing jobs as inevitable, but a report from the group calls on the government to initiate incentives and subsidies to save the industry. “The Garment District is that rare thing in this country, a truly mixed-use urban neighborhood with industrial infrastructure at its core,” said Susan Chin, executive director of the Design Trust, in the report the group released in partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America, entitled Making Midtown: A New Vision for a 21st Century Garment District.
BAM! SL Green signs 103,000 s/f in new leases
Deals & DealmakersFeatured

BAM! SL Green signs 103,000 s/f in new leases

REW Staff
by REW Staff894
SL Green Realty Corp. has announced three leases totaling 103,000 s/f. The office space provider Emerge212 and staffing company Robert Half International, Inc. both inked deals at 125 Park, while communications giant Young & Rubicam, Inc. expanded to 374,000 s/f at 3 Columbus Circle.
BAM, BAM! City signs 132,000 s/f expansion with SL Green
Deals & DealmakersFeatured

BAM, BAM! City signs 132,000 s/f expansion with SL Green

REW Staff
by REW Staff790
SL Green Realty Corp. announced that The City of New York has signed a 131,946 s/f expansion lease in downtown Manhattan at 100 Church Street, increasing its occupancy at the 21-story, 1.05 million square foot building to 504,466 s/f. Steven Durels, Executive Vice President and Director of Leasing and Real Property at SL Green, said, “We are delighted the City has made such a major commitment to 100 Church Street following completion of our comprehensive redevelopment.” Building tenants now include companies such as HealthFirst, Niche Media, Interactive Data Corporation, Centerline Capital Group, as well as the City and State of New York.
Featured

$71M Olympia refinance deal

REW Staff
by REW Staff946
Hybrid Capital has closed a $71 million loan to refinance The Olympia House, a luxury apartment building in Turtle Bay. The loan, arranged by Hybrid Capital as exclusive advisor to co-owner Steven Elghanayan, principal of EPIC LLC, carries a seven-year, interest-only term, said CEO Bobby Bakhchi. “When you have a great family asset in midtown, they’re very high-demand and sought after,” said Bakhchi, who financed the loan through Fannie Mae. “It wasn’t as challenging as some of our other deals because it’s a terrific asset.”
FeaturedResidential

Exotic pets giving real estate brokers paws for thought

REW Staff
by REW Staff2882
Leave it to New Yorkers to move the goal posts on city living. As national pet ownership soars to all-time highs, New York City's real estate community has tales of clients with everything from a Jaguar to a teacup pig and everything in between. Just as condo developers lay out a welcome mat for mutts, incorporating dog runs and spas into more and more buildings, residents have upped the ante on what kind of critters they want to keep as pets. City Connections broker Mollie Bean said she got the fright of her life when she turned up to view a live / work space and came face to face with a Jaguar. “The owners told me, ‘Don’t worry, he doesn’t bite.’ Yeah, right. I wouldn’t go in until he was out on the deck,” recalled Bean. As New Yorkers gravitate towards more outrageous pet trends, they are mastering the secret housing of the animals.
Deals & DealmakersFeatured

Memorial Sloan-Kettering to sell Cabrini Medical Center

REW Staff
by REW Staff1045
By Al Barbarino Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is selling the former Cabrini Medical Center, a 1.5-acre, five-building complex at Second Avenue and East 19th Street, sources said. The decision comes on the heels of last month’s agreement between the city and a partnership between the Memorial Sloan-Kettering and the City University of New York to construct two new state-of-the-art science and medical facilities on the Upper East Side.
Featured

Money’s out there, lenders just more picky about who gets it, says Estreich

REW Staff
by REW Staff3484
By Al Barbarino “There’s tons of money around,” Jon Estreich told a group of colleagues at a National Realty Club dinner at Vic and Anthony’s Steakhouse last week. The principal of Estreich & Company and founding partner of RCG Longview Equity Fund explored the city’s real estate scene in mostly optimistic tones. “There’s an amazing amount of debt equity around” and “there’s tons of capital,” he told an intimate group, noting that the impacts of the so-called Great Recession paled in comparison to past recessionary periods.
Deals & DealmakersFeatured

Retail deals a sign of the times

REW Staff
by REW Staff838
Microsoft has leased the southwest corner of Vornado Reality Trust’s 1540 Broadway for the holidays, the Seattle-based technology company confirmed Tuesday. Photo by Sarah Trefethen for Real Estate Weekly But a week before the official announcement, technology enthusiasts and real estate watchers alike have noticed a large wrap-around billboard advertising Microsoft’s new table computer, the Surface, looking out from the prominent corner in the heart of Times Square. The cozy retail space below the sign was shrouded in grey curtains Tuesday morning. Inside, a bustle of renovations were underway. The store is scheduled to open on Oct. 26, and will carry a “curated selection of the coolest Microsoft products,” according to the company’s website.