By Gus Delaporte 5/16 7:30am

Lease Beat

Trading Up: Boutique Financial Services Firms Flock to 540 Madison Avenue

Boutique financial services firms have recently secured over 20,000 square feet at 540 Madison Avenue, where asking rents range from $80 to over $100 per square foot.

“Boutique financial firms are still the sweet spot for the building,” Cynthia Wasserberger of Jones Lang LaSalle, told The Commercial Observer. The majority of the spaces at the property are prebuilt or that the landlord, Boston Properties, is building for the tenant. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 5/15 12:00pm

Lease Beat

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Lenox Hill Hospital/North Shore-LIJ Renews at 110 East 59th Street

Lenox Hill Hospital/North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System has signed a 15-year renewal for 70,434 square feet at 110 East 59th Street. Asking rents were in the $70s.

“They had a lease that had a little bit of term left to go, but they want to do some work in the space, so they just wanted to put a little bit more term on the lease,” Dennis Brady, executive managing director at Jack Resnick & Sons, the landlord, told The Commercial Observer. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 5/14 7:30am

Lease Beat

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Marketing Firm Moves to 440 Ninth Avenue

LeadDog Marketing Group has signed a 10-year, 24,929-square-foot lease at 440 Ninth Avenue. Asking rents were $45 per square foot.

“It was the right balance; nicer than what we currently have, but not super corporate,” Donna Providenti, chief operating officer at LeadDog, said of the space. “We are coming from old loft spaces that aren’t really suited for office use.” Read More

By Gus Delaporte 5/13 1:00pm

Lease Beat

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Residential Property Manager Relocates to 440 Ninth Avenue

Century Management Services, a residential property manger, has signed a lease for 11,373 square feet on the 15th floor at 440 Ninth Avenue, where asking rents are $45 per square foot.

“The tenant was looking for a strong landlord, one that had a reputation of working with their tenants in a partnership,” Gregg Lorberbaum, principal at Centric Real Estate Advisors, who represented the tenant, told The Commercial Observer. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 5/10 1:00pm

Lease Beat

80 broad street

Nonprofit Relocates Downtown to 80 Broad Street

Behavioral Ideas Lab, Inc., a nonprofit, has signed a 10-year lease for the entire 9,155-square-foot 30th floor at Savanna’s 80 Broad Street. Asking rents were in the mid- to upper-$30s.

“It’s the kind of location they wanted to be in,” James Emden, vice chairman at Colliers International, who represented the tenant, told The Commercial Observer. “The economics made sense; it is still a cheaper deal than Midtown.” Read More

By Billy Gray 5/09 7:45am

Lease Beat

59 Maiden Lane

Law Firm Douglas & London, PC Signs 14,807-Square-Foot Deal at 59 Maiden Lane

The malpractice law firm Douglas & London, P.C. inked a 10-year deal for 14,807 square feet at 59 Maiden Lane, The Commercial Observer has learned.

Brad Gerla and Jeff Sharon of CBRE represented the tenant, which will relocate from 111 John Street this August. Rob Sattler, Hal Stein and Brian Waterman of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the landlord, AM Trust. Asking rent was $36 per square foot. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 5/03 1:30pm

Sales Beat

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Cohen Commercial Properties Acquires Bronx Retail Property for $11.425M

Cohen Commercial Properties has acquired a 12,212-square-foot, two-tenant, retail property at 1800 Williamsbridge Road in the Bronx for $11.425 million, The Commercial Observer has learned.

“It is a conservative investment, but it’s in an area that currently and in the longer term is going to appreciate in value,” Andrew Cohen, chief executive officer at CCP, said of the acquisition. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 5/01 1:30pm

New Developments

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Eichner Plans Comeback with Harlem Park Site

With a number of projects in the pipeline, Bruce Eichner is planning a dramatic comeback to New York real estate with an 80/20 residential project at the Harlem Park site he agreed to acquire last week.

Mr. Eichner is in the midst of an architectural competition for the planned development at 1800 Park Avenue and 125th Street, The Commercial Observer has learned.

“He is going to do something creative with the building,” Geoffrey Newman, senior managing director at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, said of the project. “For a rental perspective, I think it’s going to be a spectacular building.” Read More

By Gus Delaporte 4/29 4:30pm

Lease Beat

225varick

Digital Video Company Expands in Hudson Square

Splashlight Photographic and Digital Studios has signed a five-year lease for 14,000 square feet at Trinity Real Estate’s 225 Varick Street, it was announced today.

The company also occupies 63,000 square feet on the third floor of Trinity’s 1 Hudson Square. Asking rents for 225 Varick are $45 per square foot. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 4/24 1:00pm

Lease Beat

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CVS Leases Space at 3 Columbus Circle

Pharmacy CVS Caremark has signed a 15-year lease for 21,158 square feet at 3 Columbus Circle, it was announced this morning. Asking rents were not disclosed.

The lease is for the vacant part of the 768,565-square-foot building’s ground floor and a portion of the second floor, according to a statement from SL Green Realty, the landlord in partnership with The Moinian Group. The pharmacy is expected to occupy the space beginning June 1. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 4/24 10:45am

Awards

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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 9:00am

The Plan

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W&H Properties Seeks Restaurateur for 1359 Broadway

The ground-floor space at 1359 Broadway, formerly occupied by Kosher Delight restaurant and The Luggage Source, is currently being repositioned as a restaurant space across three levels—ground, mezzanine and lower.

Newmark Grubb Knight Frank is marketing the 13,900-squarefoot space to be an American-style, upscale-casual restaurant with lunch, dinner and bar service.

With a location just seven minutes from Madison Square Garden and in the heart of a growing office market in Midtown, the large space at 1359 Broadway is ideally suited for a restaurant group. Jared Lack, managing director of the retail group at NGKF, spoke with The Commercial Observer last week about how the W&H Properties-owned space will benefit future tenants. 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

By Gus Delaporte 4/05 3:00pm

Lease Beat

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Nyack College to Relocate Manhattan Campus to 2 Washington Street

Nyack College, a Christian college anchored in the Upstate town with which it shares its name, will double the size of its Manhattan campus when it relocates next month, brokers told The Commercial Observer.

The college signed a 20-year, 166,385-square-foot lease at 2 Washington Street in Lower Manhattan near Battery Park City. The lease includes an option to extend its lease to 2042. Asking rent was $36 per square foot. Read More