By Al Barbarino 2/11 1:39pm

Lease Beat

608 Fifth Avenue

Vornado Scoops Ground Lease at Art Deco Gem Swiss Center

Vornado Realty Trust has reportedly taken control of the ground lease at the landmarked 11-story Swiss Center at 608 Fifth Avenue, where the REIT is marketing 44,440 square feet of retail space across four of its floors.

Vornado took over RFR Realty’s mortgage on the property last March with an $8.5 million payment that RFR owed to another lender and signed the ground lease on the property with the family of the late Sarah Korein, which owns the land under the building, according to the New York Post. Read More

By Al Barbarino 1/28 1:28pm

Sales Beat

(Credit: Women's Health)

Midtown Retains Title for Most Expensive Place to Park as Another Parking Garage Nets Multiple Millions

New York City.  Land of opportunity.  Safe haven for foreign investors.  And home of the multi-million dollar parking garage — thanks to the highest parking rates in the country.

The latest parking lot to sell this month was scooped up by Imperial Parking Systems Inc. at 304 West 49th Street for $14 million, city records show.

The sale highlights the continued viability and high profitability of running and operating parking garages in the city, which the latest data shows is still the most expensive place to park.

A parking rate survey by Colliers International for 2012 comparing parking rates in locations throughout the United States shows New York City still has the highest rates by far after taking the crown during the previous year. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 8/06/12 12:34pm

Private eyes/They're watching you/They see your every move

Cushman & Wakefield and Hall & Oates: “Private Eyes/They’re Watching You”

Brokerage firms Cushman & Wakefield and Colliers International are said to be testing out a new technology that tracks the amount of foot traffic and automobile traffic around their buildings.

The technology, Motionloft, is backed by eccentric NBA owner and billionaire Mark Cuban and employs sensors to track the number of people entering a building, as was first reported by The Real Deal. 

The San Francisco-based company has reportedly already put sensors along Broadway while also planning to add ones in Times Square and “another Midtown location.” Read More

By Daniel Geiger 5/23/12 12:00pm

RECon: Las Vegas

Jonathan Roseman

Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Jeffrey Roseman on New York and Las Vegas

Jeffrey Roseman is an executive vice president and principal of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s retail business and is a top retail leasing executive in the city. Mr. Roseman, who has handled a number of prominent leases over his long career, spoke to The Commercial Observer about how ICSC remains important for top-tier dealmakers, how retail isn’t going away despite the growth of e-commerce and what recent departures from Newmark means both to him and as part an industrywide shake-up in brokerage. As usual, Mr. Roseman will be heading into ICSC with several interesting space availabilities he is marketing. Read More

By Guelda Voien 11/15/11 3:11pm

Lease Beat

Ted Baker

Ted Baker to Open Fifth Avenue Flagship

Ted Baker, the high-end clothing retailer, will open a flagship store at 595 Fifth Avenue, it was announced today.

The U.K.-based company signed a long-term net lease for 12,000 square feet at the corner of 48th Street and Fifth Avenue, just down from retail icon Saks Fifth Avenue. Ted Baker will use three of the five floors of the building, which they will rent in its entirety, for retail, while the balance are for office and showroom uses. Just a block from high-profile tenants Michael Kors and LaCoste, the space could command up to $2000 per square foot, sources not affiliated with the deal speculated. Read More