By Billy Gray 5/21 9:00am

ICSC 2013

1CO2400A0521

Minute By Minute: The First Day and a Half at the International Council of Shopping Centers RECon Expo

On Sunday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber made the fans squeal and the paparazzi snap. But just off the strip, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the real action got underway with the start of RECon. Below, The Commercial Observer’s
reconnaissance work at The Global Real Estate Convention, where 35,000 registered attendees are helping to shape the future of retail real estate. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 5/06 12:45pm

Assignments

one_seaport_pic_1

C&W Eyes Tenants New and Old at 199 Water Street

Cushman & Wakefield’s leasing team at 199 Water Street is targeting traditional financial services tenants as well as new media and communications firms for the Downtown property, Robert Constable, broker, told The Commercial Observer.

“There is no limitation on who we would target [as tenants,] the space is so flexible,” Mr. Constable said. Read More

By Michael Ewing 5/03 9:00am

Lease Beat

images (6)

Lanier Law Firm Expands at Tower 56

Houston-based law firm Lanier Law Firm will be renewing and expanding its lease in Midtown, brokers told The Commercial Observer.

Currently operating out of a 12,147-square-foot space spanning the entire sixth and seventh floors at 126 East 56th Street, otherwise known as Tower 56, the firm will occupy the eighth floor and increase its foothold to 18,223 square feet. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 4/26 10:00am

The Plan

CO Page 34 - The Plan

Prime Soho Retail Spot Undergoing LPC-Approved Facade Renovation

When Invesco Real Estate acquired the building at 130 Prince Street in Soho last year for $140.5 million, the firm hired Cushman & Wakefield to market the property’s retail space.

Currently, two separate retail spaces formerly occupied by Swiss Army and Lacoste boasting a total of more than 8,000 square feet are being marketed across the ground floor and cellar alongside fellow retail tenants Cole Haan and True Religion.

Steven Soutendijk, senior director at Cushman & Wakefield and a member of the leasing team, spoke with The Commercial Observer about how ownership is repositioning the building and how potential retail tenants might utilize the space. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 4/24 10:45am

Awards

onenewyorkplaza

NGKF Nabs REBNY Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Award

The Newmark Grubb Knight Frank team of Barry Gosin, Brian Waterman and Romel Canete was awarded the Real Estate Board of New York’s Henry Hart Rice Award for the Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Award at the trade association’s 69th annual cocktail reception yesterday evening. The deal, which was a lease for Morgan Stanley at One New York Plaza, closed in April of last year.

The judging committee evaluated 37 dealmakers across sales, lease and finance transactions over the last year. So impressive were the submissions, that a presenter at last night’s event at the 101 Club wondered aloud whether the authors of the submissions had advanced degrees in creative writing. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 4/19 4:00pm

Lease Beat

386parkaveso

Mobile Advertising Company to Relocate to Macklowe’s 386 Park Avenue South

Mobile advertising company MoPub will relocate to a 13,121-square-foot prebuild on the 12th floor of Billy Macklowe’s 386 Park Avenue South in June, the New York Post reported earlier this week.

The mobile company, currently based at 71 Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District, offers an advertising serving platform for mobile application publishers, allowing clients to manage advertising on both iPhone and Android devices. Headquartered in San Francisco, MoPub was founded by former Google and AdMob employees and is backed by venture capital groups Accel Partners, Harrison Metal Capital and Jafco Ventures.

Read More

By Gus Delaporte 4/17 7:45am

Renovation and Repositioning

1-01259-0019.akGgLGbI

APF Properties Trades Retail for Bike Room as Historic Club Row Building Gets Up to Speed

APF Properties’ has converted ground floor retail space to a bike room at 28 West 44th Street, also known as the Club Row Building, The Commercial Observer has learned.

“Looking at Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign to promote bicycle use in New York City, we thought we would be proactive and create a bicycle room in lobby,” David Rosenbloom, executive director at Cushman & Wakefield, the leasing agent. “Feedback from tenants has been positive.” Read More

By Al Barbarino 4/16 8:00am

1Q13

1347978_19284953

Which Way is Up: Manhattan’s Market Boundaries are Beginning to Blur

From the outside, 222 Broadway fits the stereotype of the Downtown financial office tower.

But when Bank of America downsized, leaving roughly 250,000 square feet of space vacant, a series of tours guided by its new owner, L&L Holdings, quickly blasted that stereotype away.

Condé Nast committed to 80,000 square feet at the tower in early March. WeWork, which provides collaborative workspace for tech and media companies, was next in line. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 4/15 3:05pm

Lease Beat

hanover

Marketing Agency Signs Lease at Savanna’s 5 Hanover Square

Marketing and branding agency Escalate has signed an 11-year lease for 9,750 square feet across the ground floor and mezzanine of 5 Hanover Square where asking rent is in the mid to high-$30s.

As part of the lease, Escalate will have a private entrance to the building on Beaver Street. The marketing agency will build out its office space with an open layout, according to Andrew Kurd, associate at Savanna, the landlord.

“We’re looking forward to having Escalate in the building,” Mr. Kurd told The Commercial Observer. “We’re excited for them to move in.” Read More

By Gus Delaporte 4/12 9:00am

Postings

CO 4-9 Postings

Midtown South, Northbound Rents

Midtown South has continued its meteoric rise, overshadowing the traditional office market in Midtown. Demand remains strong in the market, where more than 12 million square feet of space has been leased in the past three years.

As large tech tenants like Google—which subleased 83,000 square feet at Chelsea Market in the last quarter—continue to snap up space, the market only stands to continue its growth.

Jonathan Mazur, director of research at Cushman & Wakefield, spoke with The Commercial Observer last week to shed light on some of the key numbers from the firm’s recent Midtown South office market report for the first quarter of 2013. Read More

By Al Barbarino 4/11 7:45am

Lease Beat

500 Fifth Avenue

University of Oxford Tops Off String of Leases at 500 Fifth Avenue

Cushman & Wakefield represented ownership at 500 Fifth Avenue in a 10,346-square-foot lease renewal to The University of Oxford, completing a string of five recent leases at the building.

The Oxford lease and four other recent leases arranged at the 680,000-square-foot Class-A skyscraper total roughly 20,000 square feet and are reflective of the building’s flexibility, which attracts a range of tenant types and a blend of the old with the new, brokers said.

“They all have a different story,” said C&W’s Harry Blair, who represented 500 Fifth Avenue Inc. with Sean Kearns in the transactions.  “500 Fifth Avenue offers tenants a prestigious Midtown Manhattan address combined with high-quality space with plenty of natural light and spectacular views of Bryant Park.” Read More

By Gus Delaporte 4/10 12:00pm

Midtown South

Angelo & Maxie's at 233 Park Avenue South

Midtown South: What a Difference a Decade Makes

A decade ago, a walk down Fifth Avenue near 17th Street would have included a stop at advertising firm Geer DuBois, and a walk farther north on Park Avenue South would have culminated in a visit to Angelo & Maxie’s Steakhouse.

Both were pioneering tenants, willing to take a chance on the less desirable precincts of Midtown South—and both are gone. Read More