By Gus Delaporte 5/02 9:00am

Postings

CO POSTINGS 4-30

Power 100 Heat Map

From a Taconic Investment Partners project in Hunts Point to the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, power in New York real estate circles has increasingly expanded from the comfortable confines of Midtown Manhattan to the fringes of all five boroughs. While large developments such as the Related Company’s Hudson Yards often dominate the conversation, Brooklyn, Queens and even the Bronx continue to grow in stature.

Long Island City is fast becoming a focal point for the real estate industry as Rockrose and other residential developers tap into the growing Queens neighborhood. In the Bronx, Taconic Investment Partners, formerly the owners of 111 Eighth Avenue, is in the process of a significant capital improvement plan at the BankNote Building on Lafayette Avenue in Hunt’s Point.

Below, a sampling of where power thrives in New York City in 2013. Read More

By Al Barbarino 3/20 9:00am

The Sit-Down

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1.5 Million and Counting: Robert Becker of The Durst Organization on Leasing Remaining Space at 1 WTC

Robert Becker, senior leasing manager at The Durst Organization, joined the company eight months ago. Having previously worked closely with the firm as an executive with Bank of America’s global real estate transactions and leasing operations team, Mr. Becker jumped on board with inside knowledge of the firm’s pivotal role in shaping the landscape of 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 Al Barbarino 2/22 10:58am

The Lobby

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Avison Young Continues Hiring Spree With Addition of John Ryan III

Industry veteran John Ryan III is the latest hire in Canadian real estate firm Avison Young’s mission to expand its footprint across New York City and the United States.

As Principal of the firm’s New York City office, Mr. Ryan will harness his 23 years of experience in tenant and landlord representation, providing brokerage services for key clients.

“I am thrilled by the opportunity to join Avison Young,” Mr. Ryan said, in a prepared statement.  “The positive trajectory of Avison Young’s growth nationally, as well as in the New York City market, where the firm has established a high-quality reputation in a relatively short period of time, has been very exciting to watch.” Read More

By Al Barbarino 2/11 5:40pm

Lease Beat

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Focus Financial Partners Takes Nearly 12,000 SF at 825 Third Avenue

Focus Financial Partners has signed an 11,923-square-foot office lease at The Durst Organization’s 825 Third Avenue in Midtown East.

The partnership of wealth management firms relocates to the 40-story, 544,000-square-foot office tower from the 7,400-square-foot space it previously occupied at 909 Third Avenue.

“The building offered a well-priced alternative along Third Avenue with great light, city views and an efficient floor plate configuration,” said Greg Kraut, principal and managing director of Avison Young’s New York City office in a statement, who represented the tenant with Dana Trulis and Paul Massey.  “We are very pleased to have been able to identify a new office location for Focus that effectively addresses the firm’s business needs… this area of Third Avenue has become a destination for companies in search of value in a strategic Midtown locale with great access to transportation.” Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 10/08/12 2:08pm

Lease Beat

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The H&M Zone: Discount fashion retailer nabs former ESPN restaurant

Swedish fashion retailer H&M will be taking the entire 42,510-square-foot Times Square space that was previously the home to the ESPN Zone.

By moving into 4 Times Square, the fashion chain becomes the latest in a line of affordable clothing retailers that are willing to brave high rents for a Times Square storefront, H&M was represented by Bob Gibson of Cushman & Wakefield. Amira Yunis, Gary Trock, and Matthew Krell, all of CBRE, represented the Durst Organization, the owners of 4 Times Square. Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 9/20/12 7:00am

Cartography

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The Gangs of New York: Who Rules Each Manhattan Zip Code

From Washington Heights to Lower Manhattan, nearly every neighborhood includes at least a little office space.

And while it can be difficult to discern on the ground, most neighborhoods and ZIP codes have a single, predominant landlord who rules the roost.

To determine who controls each of the borough’s nearly 50 ZIP codes, we combed the portfolios of Manhattan’s 20 largest owners and drafted a turf map of sorts. In cases where none of the 20 largest landlords owned office property, such as in the Lower East Side and parts of the West Village, no victor is listed.

Gathered from each company’s official website and media liaisons, as well as the United States Postal Service, the data after the jump includes ZIP codes for single buildings as well, numbered in inset maps. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 7:45am

Power Broker

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Leslie Wohlman Himmel: Commercial Real Estate’s Feminine Mystique

Curious onlookers often wonder aloud whom Leslie Wohlman Himmel is married to.

The question has less to do with her romantic life than with her rise as one of New York City’s few female building owners, a position she has navigated with aplomb as one half of Himmel + Meringoff Properties, the real estate ownership group she has overseen with partner Stephen Meringoff for nearly three decades.

To hear it from colleagues, competitors and peers, her gender has caused many to presume, incorrectly, that she either married into the industry or had exchanged vows with her partner in business, Mr. Meringoff.

“She arrived on the scene, not from a New York City family,” said Mary Ann Tighe, chief executive officer of CBRE. “In the early years, when she was acquiring properties, people would say, ‘Who’s she related to?’” Read More

By Carl Gaines 7:15am

2012 Owners Magazine

September 4, 2012 (4)

New York City’s Commercial Real Estate Dynasties: The Next Generation

On a recent late-summer conference call, William Rudin, Michael Rudin and Samantha Rudin Earls—three members of one of New York City’s most venerable commercial real estate families—were engaged in a bit of dactylonomy.

The three weren’t trying to come up with the number of buildings currently in the family’s commercial and residential portfolio, but rather were adding up the number of family members currently working at the company.

“That’s two, four …” Some names were mumbled. After a little back and forth, they settled on nine.
In a city known for the prominence of a handful of families in commercial real estate, single names like Rudin, Durst, Rose, Muss and LeFrak have come to symbolize the industry. These families have survived the worst economic catastrophe since the Great Depression while witnessing, along with the rest of us, the rise of real estate investment trusts, the top three of which now have a combined New York portfolio of roughly 67.6 million square feet.

In a era when the word ‘dynasty’ is often overused and left to trail behind words like—let’s face it—‘sports’ or ‘Kardashian,’ it finds true meaning when one surveys these biggest families in New York commercial real estate. Many of them, after all, are generations old and still control vast portfolios of properties while wielding the type of power that only comes with reputation and recognition. Read More

By Ian Thomas 7:00am

2012 Owners Magazine

Bernard Mendik and Harry Helmsley. (Photo courtesy Real Estate Board of New York.)

As the World Turns: Leasing Activity Impact Markets First, Then Owners

As a pair of 26-foot steel beams were hoisted high above Manhattan on April 30, the crowd below spoke of resilience, hope and remembrance.

One World Trade Center had just hit a height of 1,271 feet, making it the city’s tallest building. Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye said in a press conference that the building will “anchor Lower Manhattan and its rebirth for many generations to come.”

But tourists and tristate residents aren’t the only ones noticing the change in the city skyline. A number of commercial property owners are looking to the tower and other developments as a hopeful bellwether for the future, despite what most analysts still describe as a stagnant market.

The numbers speak for themselves. Real estate brokers leased 12.9 million square feet through July 31, 2012, a 28 percent drop from the 17.9 million square feet inked during the same period in 2011, according to a CBRE report. Vacancy sat at 7.5 percent, no change from a year earlier. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 9/11/12 7:00am

Lower Manhattan. (Photo courtesy of Joe Woolhead)

Are We There Yet? A World Trade Center Progress Report

The Silverstein Properties marketing center on the seventh floor of 7 World Trade Center has the air of a sacred vault. After entering past the sliding glass doors, visitors are greeted by a hallway lined with pictures documenting the World Trade Center’s sometimes contentious, sometimes momentous journey from somber graveyard to gleaming new development featuring state-of-the-art office space and retail.

Pictures depicting union construction workers at a 2010 protest and Larry Silverstein unveiling Jeff Koons’s balloon flower monument outside 7 World Trade Center compete for space with five LCD televisions broadcasting Silverstein promotional videos.

But the most effective marketing in the entire suite may be the building itself. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 7/18/12 10:39am

One World Trade Center

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One World Trade Center Clinches GSA Lease

The U.S. General Services Administration has signed a 20-year lease for six floor and 270,000 square feet at One World Trade Center, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced this morning.

The GSA, which oversees and manages U.S. Government offices, now joins Condé Nast and Vantone China as tenants in what is expected to be “the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere” once it finishes construction and begins occupancy by 2014. Condé Nast is committed to 1.2 million square feet and Vantone China has leased 190,000 square feet in the building already.   Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 5/28/12 9:00am

New Developments

Rendering for 51 Astor Place

Is It Still Too Quiet Out There? New Developments Slowly Bringing in New Tenants

As the first month of 2012 was coming to a close, many in the industry wondered aloud whether this would be a moribund year for leasing in many of the city’s newest buildings. There were notable new developments –1 and 4 World Trade Center and 51 Astor Place among them– dealing with equally-as-notable vacancies.

The NY Post’s Steve Cuozzo in January wrote that he detected “nothing substantive, or close to it, happening at no fewer than a half-dozen-odd new projects, from the World Trade Center to West 55th Street.”

Since then, however, the market has picked up, and many of these new developments have notched significant deals that have kept the naysayers mum…. at least, temporarily so. Read More