By Gus Delaporte 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 Al Barbarino 12/13/12 5:19pm

What's in a Name?

Howard Lorber and Dottie Herman

Douglas Elliman Makes Another Plea on Name Change

Dear Google, please refresh your cache:  the city’s largest residential brokerage has dropped “Prudential” from its name.

The former Prudential Douglas Elliman returned to its roots as Douglas Elliman last month after it was reportedly unable to strike a new licensing agreement for the name “Prudential.”

The Douglas Elliman name, originated along with the firm in 1911, has been adopted by all of the company’s businesses, including its commercial real estate arm, and the firm redistributed a statement today saying so, perhaps as a rebuttal to multiple media failings to follow suit on the change. Read More

By Al Barbarino 12/11/12 10:15am

Lease Beat

One New York Plaza

Winick Realty Group Selected to Lease One New York Plaza Retail Concourse

Winick Realty Group has been selected by Brookfield Office Properties to exclusively market 40,000 square feet of vacant sub-level retail space at One New York Plaza.

The space, damaged during Hurricane Sandy and slated to be rebuilt and repositioned, makes up the concourse level of the 2.6-million-square-foot Class A tower, with entryways on Whitehall, Broad and Water Streets. Read More

By Al Barbarino 12/05/12 7:45am

Post-Tropical Storm Sandy

The Plaza Shops (Al Barbarino)

One New York Plaza Retail Concourse to Be Rebuilt After Post-Sandy Flooding

Brookfield Office Properties was forced to gut the 31,000-square-foot, sub-level retail concourse at One New York Plaza after severe flooding brought on by Hurricane Sandy destroyed it, and now the commercial real estate owner plans to rebuild the space and bring new tenants in, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The estimated 23-million-gallons of water that flooded the lower levels of the building were removed within a week of the storm’s touchdown on the southern tip of Manhattan.

But as of Monday night, multiple giant yellow heating ducts resembling something from an alien horror flick continued to pump warm air into the building’s retail center – The Plaza Shops – amid the rumbling of temporary generators. Read More

By Al Barbarino 11/20/12 10:53am

Post-Tropical Storm Sandy

One New York Plaza came back online over the weekend

Nearly 80% of Lower Manhattan Office Space Back Online

The pace at which Lower Manhattan buildings are coming back online is a pleasant surprise, even for those tracking the progress day by day.

A total 19 buildings have reopened since The Commercial Observer last reported on Lower Manhattan’s progress 12 days ago.

And as of yesterday, just 25 of 183 Class A and Class B building stock remained closed in Lower Manhattan, compared with 44 on Nov. 7, according to the latest data from Jones Lang LaSalle. Read More

By Karsten Strauss 11/20/12 7:45am

Post-Tropical Storm Sandy

One New York Plaza Re-Opens its Doors After Sandy

One New York Plaza is officially open again – as of this past Saturday – following a shutdown due to tropical storm Sandy. Building owner, Brookfield Office Properties, said that the company has property, casualty and flood insurance and anticipates full coverage of losses. “The storm will have no material financial impact on the company,” the firm said as part of a release.

Hurricane Sandy caused a surge that increased ocean water levels and flooded numerous coastal areas of New York City, including the southern tip of Manhattan where One New York Plaza is located.

“Brookfield’s property operations and maintenance personnel removed all water, restored services and prepared the building for the safe return of tenants,” a Brookfield spokesperson said. Read More

By Daniel Geiger 4/17/12 9:30am

2Q12

One Chase Manhattan Plaza

Right Out of Gate, 2Q12 Looks Sluggish

Just weeks into the second quarter, brokers are already saying that caution continues to linger in the city’s leasing market.

After one of the slowest quarter in years during the first three months of the year, a number of large transactions that have been
rumored to be in talks for months remain in negotiations and big tenants who do have to lease space have made decisions that reflect a
sense of conservatism. Read More