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Al Barbarino

The Lobby

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Shari Krasnow-Renzi Joins Avison Young, KKR & Co. Follows

Industry veteran Shari Krasnow-Renzi has joined Avison Young as a director of project management as part of the firm’s expansion of its project management services platform in New York City, the company announced today.

Ms. Krasnow-Renzi previously spent 15 years with Turner & Townsend, where she managed build-out and construction assignments.

She will oversee project Read More

Lease Beat

JEMB REALTY CORPORATION

ASA College Inks 160,000 SF at Herald Center

ASA College has signed a long-term lease expansion for nearly 160,000 square feet at the Herald Center in Herald Square, paving the way for a separate 50,000-square-foot retail flagship opportunity.

The college will vacate the first three floors of the 10-story, 245,000 square-foot mixed-use property, doubling its existing space to 112,000 square feet in a Read More

Controversies

GSCOUTS

Brooklyn Girl Scouts: ‘Save Our Library!’

“Save our library!”

That’s what one boisterous group of local Brooklyn girl scouts shouts in a “The Brooklyn Public Library has some pretty shocking plans,” says the unidentified, hard-nosed reporter in the video.

Plans call for the 110-year-old building – as well as that which houses the Brooklyn Heights branch on Cadman Plaza – at Read More

Retail Lease Beat

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Home to ‘Happy Ending Lounge’ Trading Hands

Commercial real estate firm KLOSED is in the process of acquiring a 3,950-square-foot retail condominium at 302 Broome Street, the former site of an “erotic” massage parlor and home to the Happy Ending Lounge, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The $1,726,000 all cash transaction required a 10 percent “hard deposit,” an email sent by KLOSED stated.

In Read More

Hudson Yards

Hudson

Time Warner ‘Leaning Towards’ Hudson Yards

Time Warner is “leaning towards” selling its 1.1-million-square-foot headquarters at 60 Columbus Circle and moving to Hudson Yards, Following the cue from anchor tenant Coach, last month SAP and L’Oréal cut deals to lease 115,000 and 402,000 square feet at Related Companies’ South Tower, respectively, bringing it to 80 percent occupancy.

A media company with the influence and scope of Time Warner would be a game-changer for the Yards, some believe.

“The next tenant is an important moment for the district because it starts to build real momentum with tenants from other parts of the city,” Derek Trulson, a broker at Jones Lang LaSalle, who represents Extell Development Co. in leasing its site in the area, told the Journal. Read More

One World Trade Center

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One World Trade Center Crowned

The final two sections of One World Trade Center‘s 408-foot, 758-ton spire where bolted into place yesterday morning, maxing the building’s height out at 1,776 feet and making it the tallest in the Western Hemisphere, according to the Port Authority.

The spire will double as a state-of-the-art broadcast facility that will provide transmission services for the Read More

Barbie

(Credit: barbie.com)

Barbie Dreamhouse Experience Hits Florida: New York Could be Next

Three months after a prominent New York City appraiser suggested that Barbie’s oceanfront Malibu dollhouse should be bulldozed, a new Barbie Dreamhouse is being offered to the public — and this one actually exists, offering a chance to “show off your moves in the spotlight.”

Mattel and EMS Entertainment opened a 10,000-square-foot life-size touring Barbie Dreamhouse at the Sawgrass Mills mall in Sunrise, Florida this week to endless chatter and realized dreams after inking a summer lease agreement with real estate giant and mall owner Simon Property Group.  The best part: a similar house could be coming to New York City.

The Dreamhouse features a fashion runway, “Rockstar Stage,” Barbie café, living room, bedroom, an “endless” closet, bathroom, kitchen, balcony and entertainment room, with more than 350 Barbie dolls among other classic memorabilia. Read More

Retail Lease Beat

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Feel the Noise: Maker of JBL Speakers Coming to Madison Avenue

Audio solutions provider Harman International Industries Inc. is coming to 527 Madison Avenue after signing a 12-year, 8,500-square-foot “monkey wrench” of a lease deal earlier this year.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based owner of electronics company JBL – and a range of audio and GPS manufacturers – took possession of the space on May 1st, where it is in the process of building out its American flagship.

“Harman is going to flourish and do phenomenally well in this location,” Studley‘s Patrick Breslin, who represented Harman with Steve Walbridge, told The Commercial Observer.  “They are working with designers and architects and engineers to make this a cutting edge store.” Read More

Lease Beat

One Penn Plaza

Presidio/Blue Water Merger Spurs New One Penn Plaza Lease

IT-solutions firm Presidio Networked Solutions has signed a long-term, 14,106-square-foot lease at One Penn Plaza following its acquisition of BlueWater Communications LLC.  

The two firms will move from the separate spaces they occupied on the 19th and 16th floors, respectively, consolidating onto the 28th floor.

“They wanted to put both companies together in an efficient office environment that would be conducive to business,” John Pavone of DTZ, who represented the tenant with Nick Bates, told The Commercial Observer. Read More

Sales Beat

195 and 199-203 East 4th Street

Massey Knakal Sells $49 M. East Village Portfolio

Massey Knakal has arranged the $49 million sale of seven-property portfolio spread along a single street in the East Village, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The five and six-story buildings at 118, 120-22, 195, 199, 201 and 203 East 4th Street make up a combined 53,770 square feet across 115 units, with 175 feet of frontage and one retail space (at 195 East 4th).

“Demand to own multifamily properties in the East Village is extremely high as rents continue to surge and vacancy in the neighborhood is below 1 percent,” said Massey Knakal’s John Ciraulo, who exclusively represented the seller with Craig Waggner, James Nelson, Michael DeCheser and Bob Knakal, adding that the “purchaser continued their recent buying spree” in the neighborhood. Read More

Standing Tall

The world's tallest man, Sultan Kösen/The world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Height

In some ways, tall buildings are like tall people.  They are more noticeable.  In some cases they attract more attention.  In others they demand it.  But tall people don’t choose to be tall.  Those who create tall buildings do.

Once workers bolt the last two pieces of a 408-foot spire into place atop Read More