By Gus Delaporte 5/21 10:00am

ICSC 2013

R_Futterman

The Walmart Conundrum: Four Brokers Weigh In on Behemoth’s NYC Struggle

If one hot-button retail issue has dominated the New York real estate landscape in recent years, it’s been Walmart. The giant discount retailer has been trying to find a suitable location in the city for nearly a decade, but resistance has been fierce. The reasons for this resistance range from the big-box store’s labor practices to the perceived threat to local retailers.

The conflict came to a climax last year when Christine Quinn, democratic candidate for mayor, snarled, “As long as Walmart’s behavior remains the same, they’re not welcome in New York City.” Last week, The Commercial Observer spoke with some of New York’s leading retail brokers about the role of politics in retail real estate, what Walmart can do to ingratiate itself and which locations, if any, are suited to its footprint.

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By Michael Ewing 5/20 10:00am

Lease Beat

Courtesy of NYC Architecture

Orange Business Services Moves to Midtown

The global IT and communications services provider Orange Business Services will be leaving the Financial District, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The firm has been operating out of a suite at 2 World Financial Center but will be moving uptown to centralize their offices inside a 17,000-square-foot, full-floor space at 10 East 40th Street,.

“As a communications service provider that caters to Read More

By Gus Delaporte 5/15 7:30am

Lease Beat

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World Class Capital Opens in New York at 540 Madison Avenue

Real estate investment and private equity firm World Class Capital has signed a lease for 2,723 square feet at Boston Properties’ 540 Madison Avenue, where asking rents range from $80 to $90 per square foot.

“They were looking to open up a New York office that reflected their business model,” Gabe Marans of Studley, who represented the tenant, told The Commercial Observer. “They wanted to be in a boutique building that had easy access to transportation and that was centrally located on the island.” Read More

By Gus Delaporte 5/14 7:30am

Lease Beat

440ninth

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 9:00am

Lease Beat

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LH Financial Relocates to 510 Madison Avenue in High-Priced Deal

LH Financial has signed a 10-year, 6,553-square-foot lease at 510 Madison Avenue, where asking rents start at $100 per square foot, The Commercial Observer has learned.

“[The firm's current] layout and configuration are no longer conducive to their business and operations,” said Lance Leighton, assistant director at Studley, who represented the tenant. “As a result, they wanted to find a space that was more efficient for the firm.” Read More

By Al Barbarino 4/10 7:45am

Lease Beat

462 Broadway

BGB Communications Takes 25,000 SF at 462 Broadway

Pharmaceutical marketing and advertising firm BGB Communications has relocated and expanded its headquarters to the top floor of 462 Broadway, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The company signed a 10-year, 25,000-square-foot lease to occupy the top floor of the six-story, 165,000-square-foot landmarked SoHo office building at the corner of Grand Street.  Asking rent for the space was $60 per square foot.

“This is the classic SoHo cast iron loft property,” said Nicholas Farmakis of Studley, who represented BGB Communications.  Mr. Farmakis said the tenant will move in sometime this summer.    Read More

By Gus Delaporte 4/03 10:00am

Retail

wholefoods

Up, Up and Away: Retailers Pushing Boundaries on Upper East Side

National retailers are pushing north from 72nd Street on the Upper East Side, chasing changing demographics and searching for value, according to several brokers active in the market. Both 86th Street between Third and Lexington Avenues and Madison Avenue north of 72nd Street have seen strong activity and booming lease prices.

“I did deals up there 10 or 15 years ago and was hard-pressed to push $110 to $120 per square foot,” said Patrick Breslin, executive vice president of global retail at Studley. “Today, if you can find good real estate on Lex on 82nd to 85th, you’re looking at $400, $500, $600 per square foot.” Read More

By Billy Gray 3/14 1:47pm

Lease Beat

30broad

First Chinese Presbyterian Community Affairs Signs For 8,600 Square Feet at 30 Broad Street

First Chinese Presbyterian Community Affairs has signed a 10-year, 8,600-square-foot lease at 30 Broad Street in the Financial District.

Marc Shapses and Nancy Weinstein of Studley represented the tenant, a faith-based nonprofit organization. Richard Doolittle and John P. Howard of Murray Hill Properties represented the landlord, Gotham Realty Holdings. Asking rents were $34 per square foot.

First Chinese  will move into a a pre-built and fully furnished space in the 431,502-square-foot, 46-story Art Deco building located just 200 feet from the New York Stock Exchange. Neighboring tenants will include Skygroup Realty, a residential brokerage firm that last December signed for 2,340 square feet at 30 Broad Street. Read More

By Al Barbarino 3/11 2:48pm

Lease Beat

Interior at 229 W. 43rd St. boasts lofty feel but perhaps too many columns

Al Jazeera Reportedly Turned Off By ‘Too Many Columns’ at Former Times Building

Bad breath.  Body odor.  Too many columns.

Al Jazeera reportedly eyed the former New York Times building at 229 West 43rd Street as a potential headquarters for its expanding U.S. operations, but the news agency may have been turned off when it saw “too many columns,” The Wall Street Journal reported today.

Though the building has drawn interest from numerous tech and creative firms, which place great value on lofty, open workspaces, even a single column can pose a big problem for large TV studios.

“Most studios require large areas of column free space, in addition to high ceilings,” Jason Schwartzenberg, a corporate managing director at Studley who focuses on creative tenants, told The Commercial Observer. Read More

By Al Barbarino 3/01 3:06pm

Lease Beat

650-fifth

Real Estate Firm TGM Associates Renews at 650 Fifth Avenue

TGM Associates, a New York-based investment advisory firm focused on multifamily properties, has renewed its 11,280 square-foot lease at 650 Fifth Avenue, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The firm takes the entire 28th floor of the 36-story, 382,500-square-foot office building located in the Plaza District on 52nd Street, on the northern edge of Rockefeller Center.

“The fact that an entity immersed in the real estate industry has continued its commitment in this building speaks volumes about the ownership and the manner in which business is conducted at 650 Fifth Avenue,” said CBRE’s Paul Haskin, who represented the landlord, 650 Fifth Avenue Company, with Robert Stillman and Zachary Freeman.  CBRE is the exclusive office leasing agent and property manager at the building. Read More

By Al Barbarino 1/10 4:34pm

Lease Beat

125 Broad Street

Holwell Shuster & Goldberg Takes 35,681 Feet at 125 Broad Street

Law firm Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP has signed a 35,681-square-foot, three-year lease at 125 Broad Street – in a space that fits the firm like a glove.

The firm took the entire 39th floor of the building, which features sweeping views of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor and was subleased from international law firm Sedgwick LLP, which moved out and recently moved into its new space at the World Financial Center, sources tell The Commercial Observer.

“Holwell Shuster & Goldberg is a relatively new law firm that is growing very quickly and expects to continue growing very quickly,” said L. Craig Lemle, a senior managing director at Studley who represented the law firm along with Nick Zarnin. Read More

By Karsten Strauss 1/08 7:00am

4Q12

4Q12 for web

Weathering the Storm: 4th Quarter Leasing Saw Improvements

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Times of change and uncertainty are always worrisome for investors—fear takes hold, spending is called into question and valuations become unpredictable.

Mix an election season with the impending threat of a potentially devastating fiscal cliff, then throw in a destructive, rogue tropical storm named Sandy, and you’ve created an environment that is not conducive to a stellar business quarter for the commercial market.

However, thanks to tax law-motivated sales and retail—as well as a handful of big end-of-year leasing deals—the fourth quarter ended on a relatively positive note, despite a slowdown in leasing activity. Read More