By Billy Gray 5/16 8:00am

Financing

Renderings of the Four Seasons at 30 Park Place

Silverstein Secures Financing for 926-Foot Lower Manhattan Hotel, Condo

Silverstein Properties has secured financing for a 926-foot, 82-story Financial District tower at 30 Park Place that will house a Four Seasons hotel and condominium.

The Children’s Investment Fund Management provided financing for the $950 million project with a $660 million loan to Silverstein and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), a co-owner. 30 Park Place will be the tallest residential building in lower Manhattan. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 5/15 10:30am

Lease Beat

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Nonprofit Relocates to 120 Wall Street

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers has signed a long-term, 16,506-square-foot lease at Silverstein Properties’ 120 Wall Street, it was announced today.

“After a two-year search of both Midtown South and Downtown, which included inspections of over 50 properties, AIChE elected to relocate to 120 Wall Street, one of the few buildings to provide an incentive program for not-for-profits,” said Leon Manoff, vice chairman at Colliers International, who represented the tenant, in a prepared statement. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 5/15 9:00am

Postings

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Real Estate’s Biggest Philanthropists, Annotated

Last week, Stephen Ross, chairman of Related Companies, became the latest signatory of the Giving Pledge. The campaign, an effort to invite the world’s wealthiest individuals to pledge to donate half of their wealth—or more—to philanthropic causes, was started by two of America’s richest men: Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

Mr. Ross, worth $4.4 billion according to Forbes, is perhaps best known in philanthropic circles for his $100 million donation to the business school at the University of Michigan, his alma mater.

The donation, the largest ever to an American business school, resulted in its renaming as the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. Inspired by Mr. Ross’s pledge, The Commercial Observer checked in on the philanthropic efforts of other real estate titans. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 4/26 9:00am

Postings

CO 4-23 Postings Page 22

Changing of the Guard, Real Estate Style

T he turnover of leadership at New York’s venerable real estate organizations has been staggering. Since September, Stephen Ross of Related Companies, Michael Fascitelli of Vornado Realty Trust, Mort Zuckerman of Boston Properties, Larry Silverstein of Silverstein Properties and Bruce Ratner of Forest City Ratner have all announced their resignations from their current roles.

While all will stay involved with their respective companies in one form or another, the changing of the guard in New York real estate has been in full swing.

Below, The Commercial Observer highlights each of these men—and their replacements—along with the one that started the recent trend, Douglas Durst. Read More

By Al Barbarino 4/15 2:05pm

The Lobby

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Larry Silverstein is Latest High-Profile CEO to Step Down

Larry Silverstein, the affable face of Silverstein Properties and the man behind the redevelopment of the World Trade Center, is stepping down as CEO – the latest of a string of high-profile real estate CEOs to step down this year.

The co-chief executive at the firm, Mr. Silvertein’s heir apparent, Marty Burger, who joined in 2010 as executive vice president after 15 years with Related Companies, will succeed Mr. Silverstein, The Wall Street Journal reported.  Mr. Silverstein will stay on as chairman.

“Marty is a terrific young guy, and his function is really going to be to grow the company,” the 81-year-old real estate icon, Mr. Silverstein, told the Journal. Read More

By Billy Gray 4/11 4:54pm

Lease Beat

120 Broadway

YMCA Retirement Fund Leases 52,000 Square Feet at 120 Broadway

The YMCA Retirement Fund signed a 15-year, 52,000-square-foot lease at Silverstein Properties‘ 120 Broadway, The Commercial Observer has learned.

Roger A. Silverstein and Joseph Artusa of Silverstein Properties represented the landlord. Robert D. Goodman of Colliers International represented the tenant. Asking rent was $38 per square foot.

The non-profit tenant will relocate to the full 19th floor of 120 Broadway from 48,000 square feet at 140 Broadway, which it leased in 1999 when Silverstein owned that property. Silverstein sold 140 Broadway in 2004. Read More

By Carl Gaines 3/29 10:58am

Mortgage Beat

120 Broadway.

$310 M. 120 Broadway CMBS Loan Closes

Mortgage Observer Weekly  has learned that a $310 million CMBS loan on 120 Broadway closed last week, likely at a rate in the mid-2 percent range. Wells Fargo originated the loan.

A previous CMBS loan on the building had an outstanding balance of $215 million. Originated back in May of 2006, it was set to mature in June 2013, according to data from Trepp. Read More

By Billy Gray 3/22 10:00am

The Plan

CO Page 46 - The Plan

Check Out Silver Suites Offices at 7 World Trade Center

Two months after Silverstein Properties announced the launch of Silver Suites Offices, the collaborative work space occupying 30,000 prebuilt square feet on the 46th floor of the 52-story 7 World Trade Center is 50 percent leased.

The milestone happened in a quarter of the time that Tal Kerret, a senior vice president at Silverstein, had expected. The popularity speaks to the growing appeal of an office model that lets upstart companies, many of them in the tech, media and public relations sectors, sign short-term leases—the minimum at Silver Suites is six months—as they grow and require increasingly large headquarters.

Abbreviated leases notwithstanding, Mr. Kerret told The Commercial Observer that Silver Suites is not “a revolving door,” but rather a “five-star, five-diamond service environment for young and growing companies.” Read More

By Gus Delaporte 5:00pm

Lease Beat

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Law Firm Expands at Silverstein’s 1177 Sixth Avenue

Law firm Drinker, Biddle and Reath has signed a lease for the 15,375-square-foot 38th floor at Silverstein Properties’ 1177 Sixth Avenue.

The firm is expected to move into their new office space in June or July of this year following a renovation, according to Jane Roundell, senior vice president at Cresa, who represented the tenant.

“They will be taking advantage of the fact the space was partially built out and will adapt the existing installation,” noted Jeremy Moss, senior vice president at Silverstein. Asking rents on similar floors in the building are in the low-$80s per square foot, he said. Read More

By Al Barbarino 3/19 12:49pm

Controversies

Ms. Quinn has emerged as the clear favorite in terms of overall contributions from the real estate industry, having received $1.3 million

Campaign Finance Analysis Shows Real Estate Execs Buttering Up Multiple Mayoral Candidates: Daily News

Did you ever uncover that your grandmother had numerous “favorite” grandchildren, or that your brother or sister was earning a bigger allowance?

If so, you might have felt like the city’s mayoral candidates as they come to realize that they might not be so special in the eyes of some real estate executives.

An article published in the New York Daily News shows that some real estate executives are throwing cash at more than one mayoral candidate in what critics believe is an attempt to butter up the next mayor – whoever it may be – to better suit their interests.

“Critics say it’s proof that some donors are not supporting a vision for the city — they just want a sympathetic ear from whoever wins,” the report stated. Read More

By Billy Gray 3/05 10:00am

Accounting 2013

Lew Rudin, Bill Rudin, Jack Rudin

Succession Planning: How Real Estate Dynasties Pass the Torch

When it comes to succession plans, real estate insiders start reading the tea leaves early. After Martin Burger was tapped as Silverstein Properties’ co-chief executive in December 2011, Mr. Burger told The Commercial Observer that the company’s larger-than-life chief executive, Larry Silverstein, now 81, had “already made the decision” during conversations between the colleagues two years prior.

“I don’t think Larry’s ever going to retire,” Mr. Burger added. “He’s a force of nature.”

The prescience among real estate dynasts to plan ahead often collides with their desire to remain in control as long as they can, real estate titans and accountants acknowledge.

“Real estate companies do organize, but what I see there as opposed to in other industries is more of the people staying involved a lot longer,” said Rob Gilman, a partner at the accounting firm Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP. “In other businesses, people retire at 65 years old. The matriarch or patriarch of a lot of these real estate families stays on well into her or his 70s.” Read More

By Al Barbarino 2/26 7:00am

Anniversaries

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The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing: 20 Years Later

When terrorists detonated a monster bomb in the underground parking garage at the World Trade Center’s North Tower on February 26, 1993, it shook the city with seismic strength.

Six people died and 1,042 were injured in the bombing.  But it came before the widespread understanding, blunt as it was, that terrorists wanted to kill Read More

By Michael Ewing 2/08 1:00pm

Lease Beat

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120 Broadway

American Arbitration Association has inked a deal to consolidate several office in New York at the Silverstein Properties-owned 120 Broadway, The Commercial Observer has learned.

“This complex deal was the result of an extensive search throughout Manhattan to consolidate American Arbitration Association into one location,” said Chris Kraus, a broker from Jones Lang LaSalle. “Downtown just Read More

By Karsten Strauss & Al Barbarino 1/18 1:39pm

Postings

REBNY Ballroom final

Ballroom Waltz: A Minute-By-Minute Account of Last Night’s REBNY Gala

Thursday’s Real Estate Board of New York gala packed an estimated 2,400 guests into the Hilton New York’s overstuffed Grand Ballroom—an increase from last year by about 200. The Commercial Observer walked the room, hobnobbed with brokers and landlords and taste-tested a dinner of steak and potatoes while washing it all down with a few stiff drinks. Staff Reporters Karsten Strauss and Al Barbarino get the inside dish.

Read More