NYC Commercial Real Estate

[krulltime]

April 2005

The Big Picture
Residential and Commercial vital statistics


By Melissa Dehncke-McGill

New York real estate rests at the zenith of a golden age or teeters on a precipice, depending on your point of view.

In uncertain market conditions, with rising rates amid record prices, a sense of context helps. This month, The Real Deal takes a look at the big picture trends in the Manhattan residential and commercial markets.

Looking back can be sobering. If you bought an apartment in 1987 for the median price at the time -- $375,000 -- you would have had to wait until 2000, a 13-year stretch, to see a price gain.

But if you bought five years ago at the median price, your property would be worth 34 percent more today.

Prices for Harlem and other uptown neighborhoods have shot up more than 330 percent in the last decade, but even more dramatic increases can be seen in the Downtown condo market. The average price of a Chelsea condo was $162,000 ten years ago. Today, it's $1.29 million, according to Jonathan Miller, whose appraisal firm Miller Samuel provides the industry's most cited reports.

"The low mortgage rates all along are what's been fueling this real estate boom," says Miller.

With the ranks of Manhattan's real estate agents growing, more agents are competing for a piece of the commission pie. The number of sales has come down since reaching more than 9,000 annually for three out of four years from 1999 to 2002, and is now in the mid-8,000 range. Still, that's an improvement over the 1990s as whole, with the number of sales averaging around 4,500 a year for that decade.

On the commercial side, you might be patting yourself on the back if you bought an office building in Midtown in the early 1990s, but not so much if you bought Downtown. Rents have gone up 42 percent in Midtown Class A buildings since that time, but have actually declined Downtown, according to Colliers ABR.

Last month, the Federal Reserve nudged up short-term interest rates for the seventh time since June, with rising rates expected to slow home sales after a bout of frenzied buying. Still, price records continue to be set throughout Manhattan, from trophy apartments to development costs for new projects.

Where prices and rates are heading--and at what pace-- remains uncertain, but history and experience show us that it's unwise to face the future without a sense of the past.


Copyright © 2003-2005 The Real Deal.

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April 2005

Commercial vital statistics:


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http://www.pbase.com/image/42541035.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/image/42541030.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/image/42541024.jpg

Copyright © 2003-2005 The Real Deal.

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NEW AIRLINE KNOWS 'THIS IS THE PLACE YOU'LL FIND THE BEST'

By Paul Tharp
June 9, 2004

Virgin's new discount airline is calling Manhattan its home because New York is the talent capital of the world.

"New York is second to none when it comes to talented people," said Bob Dana, the new airline's finance chief.

"In marketing, finance, law, human resources, administration, planning — in everything — this is the place you'll find the best," he said.

British tycoon Richard Branson's Virgin Group already operates a successful global airline, Virgin Atlantic, but decided that New York should be the headquarters for its new discount airline, which will launch next year to serve U.S. destinations.

The new airline, whose name will be revealed in coming weeks, will create 3,000 jobs here and elsewhere, and also set in motion the hiring of another 50,000 to 70,000 people at vendor companies, officials said.

Up to 700 will work at the Manhattan headquarters alone, adding about $67 million to the Big Apple's economy over the next 15 years.

City Hall is jubilant that the new discount carrier has picked New York for its home over contenders Boston and San Francisco, and has awarded the carrier $7.5 million in incentives and tax breaks.

The company's launch is bankrolled with as much as $150 million that will go directly into the economy.

Dana — a veteran investment banker from CSFB — and his colleagues are still negotiating their headquarters lease package and expect to be flying out of two airports here.

The airline's maintenance operations will be handled in San Francisco for the next few years, Dana said.

Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc

[krulltime]

Virgin's new discount airline is calling Manhattan its home because New York is the talent capital of the world.

"New York is second to none when it comes to talented people," said Bob Dana, the new airline's finance chief.

...Oh thank you very much... :wink:

[krulltime]

JOHN JAY GETS TO SPREAD OUT

By LOIS WEISS
June 9, 2004

JOHN Jay College of Criminal Justice has signed a 10-year lease for additional space near its main campus on Tenth Avenue.

It's also moving closer to approving plans for a new, $442 million permanent home. To solve its current space issues, though, the college, City University of New York division, took on 60,000 square feet at the Related Companies' rental, the Westport, at 854 Tenth Ave., near its main campus between 58th and 59th Streets.

The school spent two years looking for and negotiating the terms.

The space will provide the college — which has grown along with security concerns in the aftermath of 9/11 — with more classrooms and offices on the 32,000 square-foot second floor and a private entrance on 56th Street.

Part of the 28,000-square-foot ground floor will be used for food service. A college bookstore with a mezzanine will have an entrance on Tenth Avenue.

Steven E. Baker and Jeff Winick of Winick Realty Group represented both the Related Companies and the City University of New York. Bruce Beal handled the in-house work for Related, which was asking $45 per square foot for the ground floor retail and $30 for the second floor.

Today, the college's board of trustees will review a design for its future, more permanent quarters with the full board expected to approve the final Skidmore Ownings Merrill designs at the end of the month.

The $442 million, 612,180 square-foot structure will replace North Hall and an existing parking garage.

The budget includes site acquisition, demolition, design, construction, management, fixtures, furniture and equipment. Construction alone is $238.7 million.

The architects have designed two buildings — known as the Podium and the Cube — that can eventually be expanded.

The Podium will become the 57th Street mid-block public entrance and lead into a series of pedestrian escalators, elevators and passageways to high volume classrooms and activities.

Its football field-sized roof will become an outdoor commons and gathering space, connecting the new building with the existing Haaren Hall.

The nine-floor Cube will rise from the northwest corner of the Podium roof and house faculty and student dining facilities, academic departments and learning centers.

To ensure justice is not blind but also transparent, a Moot Court on the sixth to seventh floors will have a glass outer wall and be visible from the commons and Tenth Avenue.

Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc

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New membership club in Manhattan

by Lisa Fickenscher
June 10, 2004

An exclusive membership club inspired by the SoHo House New York concept has begun recruiting key executives to help it launch in Manhattan in the next year.

The start-up has hired Mark Briskin, general manager of Times Square boutique hotel The Muse, to develop the concept, which will be called the Core Club. Mr. Briskin has been with the Muse since it opened in 2000 and begins his new job next week.

Mr. Briskin says the idea is to introduce a new hospitality brand in the city that is even "more exclusive" than the meat-packing district's trendy SoHo House, which offers facilities including a rooftop pool and movie theater, restaurant, spa and meeting rooms for a $1,100 membership fee. SoHo House also has 24 hotel rooms that are available to members for a preferential rate.

Because the concept is still in the early stages, Mr. Briskin declined to provide further details about his new employer.

Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc

[Derek2k3]

You can check out renderings of the John Jay project on the SOM web site.
Unsurprisingly, being that this is by SOM, it's a shiny box.

http://www.som.com/

[Gulcrapek]

It's not without some nice features..

http://www.som.com/resources/projects/3/2/8/johnjay_m3_web_328.jpg

http://www.som.com/resources/projects/3/2/8/jjc_finalblue_web_328.jpg

http://www.som.com/resources/projects/3/2/8/johnjay_m6_web_328.jpg

[Kris]

http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/extra/phase2/031804Presentation.htm

[NewYorkYankee]

What is this building for? A college? Housing?

[Agglomeration]

It's a new complex being planned for John Jay College. It's expected to be on Tenth Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets.

[krulltime]

http://www.som.com/resources/projects/3/2/8/jjc_finalblue_web_328.jpg

Yeah...the complex looks amazing...Good thing for the area of modern new buildings. Thanks for those renderings.

:? Isn't that the Time Warner Towers in the background?

[Eugenius]

Yes, it is the TWC. Those towers are between 58th and 60th streets.

[krulltime]

ECKO PLANS HIP HEADQUARTERS IN CHELSEA

By PAUL THARP
June 14, 2004

Street-fashion powerhouse Ecko Unlimited is moving into a new home on the historic Ladies Mile in Chelsea — complete with a basketball court for its CEO suite.

The company, whose trademark rhino grew into a symbol for young hipsters, is taking one of the biggest real estate leases in Manhattan this year.

The streetwear firm will use five floors spreading over two adjoining buildings on West 23rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, totaling 275,000 square feet, according to today's Crain's NY Business.

The company's 31-year-old founder Marc Ecko, a former graffiti artist from New Jersey, will build himself a suite large enough to accommodate a court for shooting hoops in between deal-making.

Ecko told Crain's he was looking for space just a third the size of the new digs, but jumped on the bigger deal when he realized how sales projections were soaring.

The 10-year-old company, with sales of about $500 million, expects revenue to double from its lines, including skateboard wear, rapper clothing and a women's line.

The new space will also have kitchens, so staffers can fix their own meals, as well as gaming rooms and space for skateboard testing. Ecko will pay an estimated $9.5 million a year, or about $35 a square foot, for the space.

Ecko is consolidating its current six locations in the garment district and its original New Jersey space into the new space, which the staff will renovate on its own to reflect its youthful style.

The building won't be hard to find. In the coming months, Home Depot will be moving into two floors on street level for the chain's first Manhattan store.

Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

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CBRE Reports Strong Office Leasing in May
CBRE NEW YORK JUNE 2004 OFFICE MARKET SNAPSHOT

MIDTOWN

With 1.16 million sq. ft. in leasing, Midtown continued to see brisk activity in May - the seventh consecutive month with velocity exceeding one million sq. ft. For the year to date, leasing exceeded activity during the same period last year by 65%. Meanwhile, Midtown availability continued to tighten.

Last month, deals were done at 84.4% of asking rents, based on a 6-month rolling average.

Top Midtown Leases:

* Dreyfus Corporation's renewal and expansion for 372,000 sq. ft. at 200
Park Avenue

* Rodale Press, Inc.'s lease for 114,000 sq. ft. at 733 Third Avenue


MIDTOWN SOUTH

Leasing in Midtown South in May increased 47% over the previous month's activity. However, with negative net absorption of 197,000 sq. ft. in May, absorption for the year to date moved slightly into negative territory. Meanwhile, pricing remained stable, increasing $0.13 in May to $31.88 per sq. ft.

Last month, deals were done at 84.9% of asking rents, based on a 6-month rolling average.

Top Midtown South Leases:

* Federated Department Stores' lease for 52,000 sq. ft. at 11 Penn Plaza

* Automatic Data Processing's lease for 32,000 sq. ft. at 1 Penn Plaza


DOWNTOWN

Downtown leasing in May was more than double the activity during the previous month. For the first five months of 2004, velocity exceeded the year-earlier performance by 18%. Pricing was unchanged from the previous month, while availability tightened slightly by 0.1 point. Absorption for the month remained positive.

Last month, deals were done at 83.2% of asking rents, based on a 6-month rolling average.

Top Downtown Leases:

* New York State Department of Transportation's lease for 34,000 sq. ft. at 199 Water Street

* Port Authority of New York & New Jersey's lease for 19,000 sq. ft. at 115 Broadway

** This Office Market Snapshot reflects market activity through June 1,
2004. These are preliminary figures on the New York City office market.

Copyright 2003-2004 The Real Deal.

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Grand Central Building Up for Sale

June 14, 2004

http://www.therealdeal.net/breaking_news/June/images/1087236262.jpg

Being marketed as Grand Central District’s "hidden jewel," the 575,000 square foot office building at 125 Park Avenue is up for sale.

Woody Heller, head of Studley’s Capital Transactions Group, has been selected to market the 25-story building located at the southeast corner of Park Avenue at 42nd Street, diagonally across from Grand Central Terminal.

"There isn’t another office property in Manhattan better suited for repositioning than 125 Park Avenue," said Heller, who said he expects "enormous interest" in the building, which he said has enjoyed a low-profile as a result of long-standing high occupancy (currently 96 percent leased).

"This is a building that seems to go unnoticed, which is remarkable, considering its extraordinary location in what many consider Manhattan’s most desired business district," added Heller, who will be assisted in the marketing effort by a team that includes Carly Borg, Will Silverman and Meredith Lufkin.

Built in 1922, the building has undergone $25 million in renovations and upgrades since 1996, and is owned by Watch Associates.

Copyright 2003-2004 The Real Deal.

[krulltime]

20 Exchange Place Trades for $152M

By Barbara Jarvie
June 14, 2004

http://www.globest.com/newspics/nyc.jpg

NEW YORK CITY-A lot of developers are stealing the mindset of the film, "Field of Dreams," as yet another deal to convert Lower Manhattan office into residential use is announced. The 800,000-sf 20 Exchange Pl. was traded for $152 million to a joint venture comprised of Nathan Berman, Yaron Bruckner and Eastbridge NV. The bottom of tower will continue to be used for office space, while floors 16 through 57 will be converted to residential.

The law firm of Herrick, Feinstein LLP put the deal together with senior debt financing provided by Column Financial Inc., which is a division of CS First Boston. Senior mezzanine financing was provided by an affiliate of SL Green and junior mezzanine financing was provided by Prudential Real Estate Investors.

“The Herrick team closed one of the most complicated financing deals that I’ve seen in my 36 years in the business,” notes Andy Singer, of Singer & Bassuk, which brokered the financing. Tenants at 57-story 20 Exchange Pl., which is located in the heart of the financial district, include the New York Transit Authority.

Berman and Bruckner closed another downtown deal this week--an enhancement to the Liberty Bond financing of 63 Wall St. Last December, the project received tax-exempt Liberty Bond financing from the New York City Housing Development Corp. for the residential conversion initiative.

The JV is converting the former headquarters of Brown Brothers Harriman, to a 475-unit residential building. To further enhance the Liberty Bond financing, Herrick conceived of an facility where the World-Wide Group, which is also one of the firm's developer clients, teamed up with Bank of America's Tri-Sale Mezzanine Fund to provide a letter of credit secured by a pledge of membership interests.

"There's little more satisfying than putting clients together to create a new line of business. This is as good as it gets," points out Carl F. Schwartz, chairman of the real estate department at Herrick, Feinstein. For it's part, the World-Wide Group notes that creating supplemental products contributes to the rebirth of the financial district, accoring to the company's Julia Hodgson.

© 2004 by GlobeSt.com

[TonyO]

Virgin has narrowed its HQ search to four downtown sites, although they are not named. One in Chelsea and 3 others downtown.

One of Virgin's reasons for choosing New York is the highly educated population. Michael Sherman, communication director for the NYC Economic Development Corporation and knowledgable on the deal says "New York has the best educated workforce in the world. We have more people with graduate degrees right here than San Francisco has people."

This story is from Real Estate Weekly.

[krulltime]

Dumbo to Downtown: New Office Leases

June 16, 2004

East River Media Signs in Dumbo

East River Media, Inc., a creative design production company that specializes in political advertising, has leased space at 20 Jay Street in Dumbo.

The company, which launched the Bloomberg mayoral campaign and a number of Brooklyn and Queens city council races from their offices, leased for 4,597 square feet on the fifth floor of the building.

George Pastor represented owner Two Trees Management in the three-year lease. 20 Jay Street is an eleven-story building with full floors of over 41,000 square feet.

" This business is representative of just how diverse our community is -- from politics to artists to attorneys to magazines," said Chris Havens, Director of Leasing for Two Trees.

Hart Sharp Takes Space in Soho

Cresa Partners has arranged a 7,500-square-foot sublease at 575 Broadway in Soho for Hart Sharp Entertainment/Hart Sharp Video, a film and video production company.

Hart Sharp, previously located at 380 Lafayette Street, needed to consolidate and expand its operations, according to Michael Smith of Cresa Partners, the broker for Hart Sharp.

"After an extensive search, a new space in one of Soho’s preeminent buildings became available offering Hart Sharp an excellent opportunity to remain in the same neighborhood," said Smith.

Jane Roundell of Cresa Partners represented the sublessor, Dreamworks SKG. Garett Varricchio and Chris Strickland of Cresa Partners joined Smith in representing Hart Sharp.

Rafferty Capital Markets Stays Downtown

J.J. Kenny Drake, a division of Rafferty Capital Markets, has signed a lease for the entire 16,000 square foot tenth floor at 33 Whitehall Street.

CB Richard Ellis’ William Iacovelli represented Rafferty in the 11-year transaction, while the CBRE team of Edward Goldman, Jonathan Cope, and Stacey Fabrikant acted for the landlord of 33 Whitehall, Kipp Stawski. Rents in the 30-story building are in the $30 per square foot range.

Rafferty plans to move into 33 Whitehall in September from another Downtown location, and will join existing tenants including Fitch Investors and US Attorneys offices, among others.

"Rafferty wanted to remain Downtown, it’s home of 50 years, and 33 Whitehall offers the location, the floor plates, and the economics to suit its requirements," said Iacovelli who added other perks included the building’s above standard technical support plus the fact that Rafferty could be accommodated all on one floor.

Copyright 2003-2004 The Real Deal.

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$425M Mortgage for 1515 Broadway

June 16, 2004

http://www.therealdeal.net/breaking_news/June/images/1087323054.jpg

1515 Broadway – the home of Viacom and MTV – has been mortgaged by owner SL Green Realty Corp. for $425 million.

Sonnenblick-Goldman Company arranged a LIBOR- based, floating-rate, first mortgage financing on the 1.8 million square foot office building in Times Square.

The loan was provided by Lehman Brothers and Wachovia Bank.

Viacom leases over 1.3 million square feet at the property (approximately 89% of the office space). The retail and theatre space of approximately 166,000 square feet includes the Minskoff Theatre, Fleet Bank and MTV.

Sonnenblick-Goldman’s financing team was led by Morton Holliday and included Mark Ehlinger, Alex Hernandez and Peter Hopkins.

Copyright 2003-2004 The Real Deal.

[krulltime]

Investment bankers Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin Financial Advisors

June 16, 2004

Investment bankers Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin Financial Advisors is moving from 685 Third Ave. to larger digs at 245 Park Ave. The firm just took an 18-year sublease from JP Morgan Chase for 60,152 square feet, with an option for a 10,000-foot expansion.

At its old address, the firm was scattered over four floors with 57,000 square feet — 18,000 of which it took on a short-term temporary basis just six months ago. At 245 Park, it will be on just two floors, said CB Richard Ellis's John Maher, who repped Houlihan Lokey along with CBRE's Paul Myers, Anthony Dattoma and John Pavone. Cushman & Wakefield repped the sublandlord.

The asking rent was $65 per square foot, but sources said Houlihan "got a very good deal."

Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[krulltime]

Virgin has narrowed its HQ search to four downtown sites, although they are not named. One in Chelsea and 3 others downtown.

One of Virgin's reasons for choosing New York is the highly educated population. Michael Sherman, communication director for the NYC Economic Development Corporation and knowledgable on the deal says "New York has the best educated workforce in the world. We have more people with graduate degrees right here than San Francisco has people."

This story is from Real Estate Weekly.

That is good to hear. I hope they choose the 3 options in downtown. I hope they take space in the freedom tower or 7 world trade center. But anywhere in the city is good. :P

[billyblancoNYC]

Virgin has narrowed its HQ search to four downtown sites, although they are not named. One in Chelsea and 3 others downtown.

One of Virgin's reasons for choosing New York is the highly educated population. Michael Sherman, communication director for the NYC Economic Development Corporation and knowledgable on the deal says "New York has the best educated workforce in the world. We have more people with graduate degrees right here than San Francisco has people."

This story is from Real Estate Weekly.

That is good to hear. I hope they choose the 3 options in downtown. I hope they take space in the freedom tower or 7 world trade center. But anywhere in the city is good. :P

Well, DT still has a lot of incentives, so that will be appelaing to to new, farily high risk business such as this one. But Chelsea has the "hip" factor, which Virgin loves so much. Interesting to see. Maybe 7WTC would be a good fit since it'll be done much sooner than FT.

[krulltime]

SL Green continues Class A drive


June 17, 2004

Continuing its move into Class A properties, SL Green Realty Corp. is buying two midtown office buildings from TIAA-CREF, one of the largest teachers pension funds, in a $480 million deal.

The two Class A buildings, 750 Third Ave. and 485 Lexington Ave., take up the block between East 46th and East 47th streets and Third and Lexington avenues, and comprise more than 1.7 million square feet.

The Manhattan-based real estate investment trust, which has been departing from its traditional formula of buying Class B fixer-uppers (Crain's, May 24, 2004) is paying $255 million for 750 Third Ave., a Class A building. It is buying the second building, at 485 Lexington Ave, for $255 million, through a joint venture with the New York City Investment Fund. When the purchase is completed, SL Green will own 37.5% of the building and manage the property.

The purchase price tops the expected $450 million that the properties were expected to command. TIAA-CREF, which is consolidating some business units and relocating workers amid a financial crunch, will lease the buildings from SL Green until December 2005. It will keep its headquarters at 730 Third Ave.

Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc

[krulltime]

Architects draft downtown plans
Want to be close to rebuilding activity; greeting card retailer seals deal for store


By Christine Haughney
June 18, 2004

The constant jangle of jackhammers isn't stopping one type of tenant from moving downtown. In recent months, five architecture firms relocated, signed deals or made plans to move to 11 Park Place to be closer to the action of rebuilding lower Manhattan.

SHoP Architects moved from 200 E. 37th St. to a 6,000-square-foot office to be near its East River project. Earlier this month, Gary H. Silver Architects relocated from 145 Hudson St., which is being converted to residential use, to a 1,500-square-foot office. Lindsay Newman Architects is about to sign a 10-year lease for 1,500 square feet.

A fourth architecture firm is negotiating a lease for 2,200 square feet in the building and a fifth is in talks to rent a 12,000-square-foot floor, says Michael Berger, a broker representing GVA Williams, which leads the group of investors that owns the building.

The distinctive, 78-year-old building offers tenants a grand lobby and attractive offices with 10-foot ceilings. Asking rents are low at $26 a square foot.

"The rents, the incentives and the revitalization are the pull," says Mr. Berger.

Lindsay Newman decided to relocate from 35 Pineapple St. in Brooklyn Heights with help from its broker, Winslow & Co. The firm wanted to move closer to its downtown clients, which include Goldman Sachs, Brookfield Properties and Grant's Interest Rate Observer. The firm also wanted to overcome the stigma of a non-Manhattan address.

"Even though Brooklyn Heights is just over the bridge, people say, `Oh, if you're ever in the city,' which is annoying," says Cat Lindsay, a partner.

© Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc.

[krulltime]

"Even though Brooklyn Heights is just over the bridge, people say, `Oh, if you're ever in the city,' which is annoying," says Cat Lindsay, a partner.

Oh that is funny...I hear people even form the other boroughs saying lets go to the city. They mean Manhattan of course. :roll:

[krulltime]

$400M TRUMP CARD


By STEVE CUOZZO
June 22, 2004

Donald Trump hopes to make an elephantine profit on a classic downtown skyscraper he bought for peanuts nine years ago.

Trump, who spent a token $1 million for 40 Wall St. in 1995, now plans to sell the pyramid-crowned, 72-story, 1929 landmark for what marketplace sources said could be $400 million or more.

The developer has tapped CB Richard Ellis's Darcy Stacom and Bill Shanahan to field offers.

The iconic, 1.3 million-square-foot tower is Trump's only office building, which he bought without partners at a time when downtown's vacancy rate was much higher than today and when many had given up hope on the area.

"When I bought it, it was completely empty," Trump said yesterday. "Today's it's completely full. It was the best deal ever made in real estate."

What Trump actually owns, and what he hopes to sell for a breathtaking profit, is the remaining term on a 500-year leasehold. The ground, or "fee," is owned by what Trump calls a "wonderful" German family.

What the tower — a signature spire in postcard images of the downtown skyline — will fetch may have consequences both for Trump, whose publicly traded casino company is under pressure from bondholders, and for post-9/11 Lower Manhattan, where every property sale is seen as a barometer of the area's health.

Trump's Manhattan real estate properties are privately held and entirely separate from Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. But coincidentally or not, the $400 million Trump hopes to reel in from 40 Wall is the same amount he has been reported as trying to secure in fresh equity for the casino company.

Trump rejected the idea that there was any linkage. "I shouldn't even be asked that question," he said. "The casinos have nothing to do with this."

Neither Stacom nor Shanahan would comment. But marketplace sources said $400 million, or about $333 a square foot, was a target price. Asked what number he was looking for, Trump said, "I really don't know what I'm going to get. And it doesn't mean I'm [necessarily] going to sell."

He wouldn't say how much profit 40 Wall made, but in 1999, his then-executive vice president said it produced $23.5 million in before-tax annual profit after mortgage interest.

In a robust downtown property-sale market, Germany's DiFA fund recently paid $465 million for the much newer 140 Broadway, or a near-record $387 per square foot. Trump characteristically proclaims 40 Wall a "much better building, all new except for the exterior wall and the frame."

The $20 million-plus Trump spent to gut, renovate and modernize the tower helped reel in glamorous tenants like Bear Stearns, CNA and American Express.

Trump also brought in a vast Mangia gourmet food hall that "really put the building back on the map," says Studley investment sale specialist Woody Heller, who brokered 40 Wall's sale to a Hong Kong partnership for $7.5 million in the early 1990s.

At that time, it had fallen into disrepair under absentee owners, including Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda.

By the time Trump bought it, "the building had no economic value."

One problem was that the ground lease required the landowners' approval to do anything.

"So Trump did the usual Donald thing," Heller said. "He charmed the land owners, who agreed to make changes in the ground lease that made it more leaseable to tenants."


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[krulltime]

40 Wall St


http://www.greatgridlock.net/NYC_Images/019.jpg

The 40 Wall Street as seen from the World Trade Center.
In the background, from the left: the 60 Wall Street,
1 Financial Square and City Bank Farmers Trust Building.
In the foreground the Equitable Building and Bankers Trust.


Image © e t dankwa 1997

[Derek2k3]

It would have been nice if he had taken some of that profit and added some lighting to the top of the building.

[krulltime]

Such a historical beauty and landmark building deserves some lighting.

[krulltime]

RUSSIAN TEA DEAL BREWING


By BRADEN KEIL and LOIS WEISS
June 24, 2004

It could be tea time again in New York — rather than tee time.

The United States Golf Association has agreed to sell the six-story building that housed the historic Russian Tea Room on West 57th Street to a consortium of restaurateurs and developers, The Post has learned.

The sale price, in the $20 million range, will also include the rights to the famed Russian Tea Room name and the air rights for development above the building a few doors down from Carnegie Hall, sources said.

One of the restaurateurs involved in the negotiations is Tony Zazula, a co-owner of the upscale restaurant Montrachet in TriBeCa, according to the sources.

Zazula had no comment.

The consortium, which has until the middle of next month to back out, is considering options including a restaurant on the first two floors and high-priced condos or office space for the remaining four floors.

The Russian Tea Room was opened in 1926 by members of the Russian Imperial Ballet.

In 1995, Warner LeRoy purchased the restaurant, gutted the entire structure and gave it a four-year, $20 million makeover.

But the over-the-top restaurant struggled almost from the beginning, and by 2002 was thrown into bankruptcy following LeRoy's death.

The restaurateur's estate closed the eatery and sold it for a reported $16 million to the golf association to house a golfing museum.

Those plans were scrapped a year later and the property was put on the market.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[krulltime]

June 24, 2004

Third time is apparently the charm for 135 W. 50th St..

Neither Douglas Durst nor Jerry Speyer could complete the deal, but now Murray Hill Properties has signed a contract and put down a hard deposit towards a lease for the building, also known as the Sports Illustrated building.

The Estate of Dr. Laszlo Tauber is selling the 100-year lease for $143 million. The land is owned by the Estate of Peter Sharpe and the Lehmon family. The price, sources said, comes to less than $200 a foot.

Murray Hill Properties, led by investment maven Norman Sturner, is partnering with Blackacre Capital and not Lehman Bros., as was reported elsewhere. Eastdil is handling the sale, but agents declined comment.

Interestingly, Lehman — which is headquartered at 750 Seventh Ave., across the street — is now seeking to rent 300,000 square feet in the Sports Illustrated building through Bob "Mr. Big" Alexander of CB Richard Ellis.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[billyblancoNYC]

It would have been nice if he had taken some of that profit and added some lighting to the top of the building.

I hope someone doesn't want to convert it to condos.

[krulltime]

San Francisco law firm to double NY office


by Tommy Fernandez
June 29, 2004


Looking to grow its local litigation practice, law firm Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe has leased space in Times Square Tower that will allow it to double its staff of New York attorneys.

San Francisco-based Heller has rented 138,000 square feet on several floors of the tower, at 7 Times Square, for 16 years, with options to renew for another 10 years. The firm, whose local outpost currently comprises 65,000 square feet at 120 W. 45th St., plans to move into the new space in March 2005 and ultimately to increase its roster of New York lawyers to 165 from 80.

Chairman Barry Levin says his firm plans to step up its New York presence quickly, likely adding another 20 lawyers before the move. "Our goal is to build on our core strengths in New York," he says.

Heller will occupy the 39th through 42nd floors and half of the 38th floor at 7 Times Square and will have the option to rent the 43rd floor after five years. The published asking rents per square foot at the Boston Properties-owned building range from $59 to $70.

Heller's Manhattan attorneys specialize in securities and anti-trust suits as well as cross-border deals. They represented GMAC Commercial Mortgage in the suit filed by Silverstein Properties over the insurance for the World Trade Center attacks. Heller has 720 lawyers in 13 offices around the world.


Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc

[krulltime]

NYPOST Real Estate News


June 29, 2004

The expected sale of the Bertelsmann Building in Times Square to Paramount Group Inc. just closed for $426 million. But Paramount brought in a partner on the 44-story, 1.1 million square-foot tower, aka 1540 Broadway: Des Moines, Iowa,-based Principal Real Estate Investors, a unit of asset-management firm Principal Global Investors.

The deal marks the largest acquisition to date for Paramount's new Paramount Group Real Estate Fund, set up earlier this year to buy and invest in prime U.S. properties.

The U.S.-based Paramount Group Inc., headed by CEO Albert Behler, is an investment arm of Germany's Otto Group. Its other Manhattan holdings include 1633 Broadway, 1177 and 1325 Sixth Ave., and 180 Maiden Lane.

"Now that they have a dedicated real estate fund, look for them to buy lots more," a source predicted.

Bertelsmann put the green-on-green tower, home to the Virgin Megastore, on the block last summer. But the media giant complicated things by deciding to keep about 400,000 square feet in the building, adding a lease negotiation into the mix.

Studley investment sale kingpin Woody Heller, who was not involved in the sale, termed it a "very well regarded buildings in an area now enjoying a fabulous renaissance."


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[Edward]

... The property fetched a staggering $185 million, or $770 per buildable square foot — believed to be a record price for a residential site.

http://www.nypost.com/realestate/26537.htm

New Jersey-based Garden Homes Development has emerged as the winning bidder for Beth Israel Hospital's coveted Singer Division property at 170 East End Ave. and two adjacent apartment buildings. Garden Homes is also busy converting 37 Wall St. to rental apartments and recently converted 75 West St. as well.

On the Singer site, Garden affiliate Skyline Developers plans to create luxury condos that will take advantage of East River views.

Beth Israel was repped by CB Richard Ellis's Darcy Stacom and Bill Shanahan, who declined comment. Other sources told my colleague Lois Weiss that the property fetched a staggering $185 million, or $770 per buildable square foot — believed to be a record price for a residential site.

RFR Realty head Aby Rosen, one of the disappointed under-bidders, told Weiss: "I hope they choose a great architect because the city needs great architecture and this is a one-time opportunity."

Meanwhile, Garden Homes is eying a prime development site on Sixth Avenue in the 20s, where luxury apartment towers are fast replacing grimy old structures and parking lots. Sources say Garden Homes is buying the small corner building at 100 W. 25th St. now occupied by a deli and antique galleries.

It's also bidding on the much larger property next door: a 17,600 square-foot, Con Ed-owned parking lot. Cushman & Wakefield's Andrew Behymer is fielding bids for Con Ed but would not comment.

However, sources say bids may top $300 per buildable square foot. Under new zoning, a 177,000 square-foot building can go up as of right.

[krulltime]

PRADIUM PAYS $200.5M FOR 51 BLDGS.


By LOIS WEISS
July 1, 2004

A 51-building package with 2,576 apartment units and 78 stores in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan sold for $200.5 million last Friday.

The sellers were a family and an institution, who had purchased the properties a group at a time over the last five years.

"This is the second time over a five-year period I've sold these properties," said Aaron Jungreis of GFI Realty Services.

"They are all very well located in all parts of Harlem and Washington Heights, and all parts of the Bronx."

Other sources identified the buyer as the Pradium Group, working with Joel Weiner, who will also manage the properties.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[krulltime]

NYC OFFICE LEASES SLOWLY WARMING UP


By STEVE CUOZZO
July 6, 2004

DESPITE brokers' opti mism, the leasing market — Midtown as well as downtown — runs warm but not hot. Wall Street, the locomotive that pulls the train in every strong market, has finally begun to rehire, but not yet at anything like the pace of the boom years.

Blockbuster deals of several hundred thousands of square feet are nowhere in sight, notwithstanding rumors constantly floated about firms "scouting" for multiple such spaces.

Meanwhile, the two financial services mega-moves that are in the cards involve new construction rather than existing inventory: Bank of America to Douglas Durst's One Bryant Park on West 42nd Street (a done deal), and Goldman Sachs' increasingly likely move to a new skyscraper to be built in Battery Park City.

Fortunately, there's lots of activity at the renewal and moderate-growth level — which is why Manhattan's availability rate (between 12 and 14 percent, depending on whose numbers you believe) continues to look good compared with just about anywhere else.

The numbers seem even better when you consider that some statisticians already count as "available" 1.6 million square feet of space yet to be spoken for at Larry Silverstein's new 7 World Trade Center.

It's industry custom, of course, to count space being marketed even though it isn't ready yet.

But does it really add to our understanding of current conditions to include a building that is still months from topping off, and which can't possibly be ready for actual occupancy until the end of 2005, if then?


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[krulltime]

Real Estate


By STEVE CUOZZO
July 6, 2004

In one typical recent smaller-scale deal, Kent Swig's 80 Broad St. has signed a 24,000-square-foot direct lease with Texas-based Aegis Communications Group, bringing the tower to 92 percent occupancy.

Swig's company, Swig Burris Equities, bought the 400,000-square-foot 80 Broad last month with plans to convert it into a luxury boutique office address, as Swig has also done with 48 and 44 Wall.

The Staubach Co. represented Aegis; Newmark repped the landlord.

Meanwhile, we wonder if Swig, who's been snatching up properties downtown, might have an eye on 40 Wall St., the classic 1920s skyscraper that Donald Trump has put on the market (as The Post first reported).

Trump hopes to land $400 million for the 1.2 million-square-foot art deco landmark.

That's a higher price than Swig and his partners have paid for their recent downtown acquisitions. And Trump predicted that the strongest likely bidders are likely to be "institutional."

But Swig does own buildings right next door, and he's on a buying binge.

We couldn't reach him for comment over the long holiday weekend.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[krulltime]

NYPOST Real Estate


By LOIS WEISS
July 7, 2004

Richard Baxter and Ron Cohen at Cushman & Wakefield have landed the assignment to sell 110 William St. for Trizec Properties.

The Chicago-based real estate investment trust acquired the 868,000-square-foot downtown building for $90.2 million as part of a 10-building package it bought from Equitable Life Insurance in 1998.

With 97 percent occupancy, at about $190 a foot, the "B+" building could fetch somewhere around $170 million. It is home to a long-term low-rent lease for the city's Economic Development Corp., as well as AIG and other companies. During last year's blackout, the Trizec buildings had their lights blazing, due to upgrades and back-up systems.

Last month, Trizec and its Swig Co. partner completed a $600 million refinancing of the Grace Building, at 1114 Ave. of the Americas, and its World Apparel Center at 1411 Broadway. That transaction adds $180 million to the Trizec coffers alone.

The company is busy sniffing out new deals and the proceeds of 110 William will be added to that war chest.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[krulltime]

NYPOST Real Estate


By LOIS WEISS
July 7, 2004

The newly dubbed Virgin America airline has narrowed its search for a 100,000-square-foot headquarters to Wall Street and SoHo, its press rep advised.

The short list, we discovered, includes the Woolworth Building, Starrett-Lehigh, 199 Water St., and 75 Varick — also known as One Hudson Square.

We're betting that the two finalists will be 199 Water — the Jack Resnick & Sons' Class-A Seaport tower, where subleases are available for $30 a foot — and One Hudson Square, the Trinity Church-owned former industrial building at Canal Street, where space goes for $45.

Andrew Peretz, one of Cushman & Wakefield's top brokers, is spearheading the search, but he declined comment.

Stacy Geagen of Virgin America said it is trying to launch on a low-cost platform, so being in a trendy area may have to give way to the airline's bottom line.

Wherever they land, the airline is eligible for millions of dollars in incentives, job training and sales tax exemptions from both the state and the city. Five other U.S. cities pitched the airline to be its home base, but New York won out.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[krulltime]

Five other U.S. cities pitched the airline to be its home base, but New York won out.

You just can't compete with New York city. :wink:

[billyblancoNYC]

NYPOST Real Estate


By LOIS WEISS
July 7, 2004

The newly dubbed Virgin America airline has narrowed its search for a 100,000-square-foot headquarters to Wall Street and SoHo, its press rep advised.

The short list, we discovered, includes the Woolworth Building, Starrett-Lehigh, 199 Water St., and 75 Varick — also known as One Hudson Square.

We're betting that the two finalists will be 199 Water — the Jack Resnick & Sons' Class-A Seaport tower, where subleases are available for $30 a foot — and One Hudson Square, the Trinity Church-owned former industrial building at Canal Street, where space goes for $45.

Andrew Peretz, one of Cushman & Wakefield's top brokers, is spearheading the search, but he declined comment.

Stacy Geagen of Virgin America said it is trying to launch on a low-cost platform, so being in a trendy area may have to give way to the airline's bottom line.

Wherever they land, the airline is eligible for millions of dollars in incentives, job training and sales tax exemptions from both the state and the city. Five other U.S. cities pitched the airline to be its home base, but New York won out.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

Doubt it's Wall St. Not hip enough.

[krulltime]

Office market strong in June, report says


July 7, 2004

There was further improvement in the Manhattan office market for June, according to a report by Colliers ABR.

Most of the major deals completed were in Midtown though both Midtown South and Downtown saw their fair share as well.

The Manhattan class A vacancy rate ticked down to 10.5% in the second quarter from 10.6% in the first quarter, the report said.

Leasing was quite active during the month, with 2.6-mm-sf of new deals closed, propelling gross leasing activity to 8.8-mm-sf for the year.

In addition, there has been approximately 1.5-mm-sf of renewal activity thus far in 2004, the report said.

Class A average asking rents edged up to $47.98/sf, from $46.87/sf in March.


MIDTOWN

The Midtown class A vacancy rate closed the mid-year mark at 10.5%, up from the first quarter figure of 10.1% but down from 10.6% in the fourth quarter of 2003, the Colliers report said.

There is still significant available space technically available in the newly constructed Times Square Tower, though almost all the space there has leases pending.

Class A average asking rents climbed to $54.25/sf in June, up from $54.05/sf in March and $52.37/sf in December, the report said.


MIDTOWN SOUTH

Midtown South was quite active in June with several major deals closing. St. Martin’s Press now controls almost 160,000-sf of the 180,000-sf in the Flatiron Building (175 Fifth Avenue) with a renewal and expansion deal.

And just west of there, at 28 and 40 West 23rd Street in Chelsea, apparel designer Ecko Unlimited has taken 275,000-sf, consolidating various locations scattered across the garment district as well as New Jersey.

The overall Midtown South vacancy rate fell to 12.1% in June from 12.2% in March and 12.5% in December, the Colliers report said.

Average asking rents have been rather stable, closing June at $29.50/sf.


DOWNTOWN

Downtown, the class A vacancy rate plunged to 11.8% in June, the lowest it’s been since February 2002 (11.7%), the report said. The fall can be attributed to 3 blocks of direct space being removed from availability.

They include 180,000-sf at 20 Exchange Place (building has sold and space was taken off the market because the tower is due to be converted to residential use), 81,000-sf at 55 Water Street due to a lease out and 42,000-sf off the market at 1 New York Plaza also due to a lease out.

While certainly good news, there is potential space to be added on the horizon including up to 1.0-mm-sf from Prudential Securities at 1 New York Plaza within the next six months, the report said.

Class A average asking rents climbed rather sharply in the second quarter to $35.07/sf, up 3.5% from $33.89/sf in the first quarter and $33.88/sf in the fourth quarter 2003.


Copyright 2003-2004 The Real Deal.

[krulltime]

Signs of expansion on Wall St.


July 7, 2004

Landlords have been seeking signs that Wall Street firms are ready to expand their offices the way those who hate winter watch for crocuses springing up through the snow.

Wall Street demand for office space is the engine that drives the Manhattan leasing market - and for the past three years, there hasn't been any.

Now comes word that Lehman Brothers is negotiating for around 300,000 square feet at 1211 Sixth Ave. The firm wants expansion space that's near its 745 Seventh Ave. headquarters. The two buildings are a block away from each other.

A Lehman spokeswoman declined to comment. But real estate execs are talking plenty about this space search, because it's all about expansion. It has entirely different implications from the other big Wall Street real estate news in the making - Goldman Sachs' planned construction of a new headquarters downtown.

Goldman's willingness to spend big bucks on office space is a much-appreciated vote of confidence for lower Manhattan - but when the firm moves to a new tower, it will leave significant vacancies in the buildings it now occupies.


All contents © 2004 Daily News, L.P.

[Stern]

RUSSIAN TEA DEAL BREWING


By BRADEN KEIL and LOIS WEISS
June 24, 2004

It could be tea time again in New York — rather than tee time.

The United States Golf Association has agreed to sell the six-story building that housed the historic Russian Tea Room on West 57th Street to a consortium of restaurateurs and developers, The Post has learned.

The sale price, in the $20 million range, will also include the rights to the famed Russian Tea Room name and the air rights for development above the building a few doors down from Carnegie Hall, sources said.

One of the restaurateurs involved in the negotiations is Tony Zazula, a co-owner of the upscale restaurant Montrachet in TriBeCa, according to the sources.

Zazula had no comment.

The consortium, which has until the middle of next month to back out, is considering options including a restaurant on the first two floors and high-priced condos or office space for the remaining four floors.

The Russian Tea Room was opened in 1926 by members of the Russian Imperial Ballet.

In 1995, Warner LeRoy purchased the restaurant, gutted the entire structure and gave it a four-year, $20 million makeover.

But the over-the-top restaurant struggled almost from the beginning, and by 2002 was thrown into bankruptcy following LeRoy's death.

The restaurateur's estate closed the eatery and sold it for a reported $16 million to the golf association to house a golfing museum.

Those plans were scrapped a year later and the property was put on the market.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

I thought the air-rights have already been bought and used by the Carnegie Hall, Metropolitian, and CitySpire Towers?

[TLOZ Link5]

It's a small building on prime real estate. Maybe not all the air rights were used, or maybe they were not used at all.

[krulltime]

Landlords seeing concrete results


July 07, 2004

The real estate scene began to improve at the end of last year and into first-quarter 2004, led by a large number of law firm leases. Midtown and downtown office rents are still below their 2000 peaks, but vacancy rates have begun falling from the high point they hit at the end of 2003. The amount of sublease space on the market has steadily declined. City officials project that office vacancy rates will continue falling for the next several years as rents rise. Retail rents have already been increasing, with Fifth Avenue remaining the premier shopping strip. On the home front, apartment prices in almost every category and Manhattan neighborhood kept climbing skyward.

Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc

[krulltime]

Two Months to Go to $355M 180 Maiden La. Closing

http://www.globest.com/newspics/nyc_180maidenlane.jpg
180 Maiden Ln.

By John Salustri
July 12, 2004

NEW YORK CITY-Sources familiar with the deal have confirmed to GlobeSt.com that the 1.1-million-sf 180 Maiden La. in Lower Manhattan is set for a change in ownership. Joseph Moinian is currently in negotiations with current owner the Paramount Group to purchase the asset for roughly $355 million. In a market still reeling from inflated prices for trophy assets, experts tell GlobeSt.com that this deal is a win/win.

But sources are calling the news premature, indicating that there's a sea of negotiation and paperwork that lies between this report and a done deal. In fact, closing is not in sight for another two months. But the extent of negotiation that remains is a mystery. No one at Paramount or Eastdil Realty, the marketer of the asset, returned phone calls by deadline, and executives at the Moinian Group responded only with a no-comment.

The 41-story building is home to law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan and Goldman Sachs. The asset was constructed in 1984.

The Moinian Group boasts a portfolio of some eight million sf of office, industrial, retail and hotel properties around the US, most of it based in Manhattan. Local holdings include Columbus Tower at 1775 Broadway and 900 Eighth Ave. According to the company website, Moinian is also planning or currently building some 1.5 million sf of Manhattan commercial space.

"I have a tremendous respect for Joe [Moinian] as a real estate professional and an operator," says Michael Boxer of RCG/Longview. "He knows his business. I don't think anyone would argue that he's probably paying full price for the building. But given the prospects for Downtown in general and the significant infrastructure we're likely to see emerge as a result of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, we're going to see great viability and vibrancy in Downtown. It's not unreasonable to believe that Joe looked to those prospects and accepted the exposure in Maiden Lane given what's going to happen in the next few years." Boxer says that some of the transaction's senior lenders are considering RCG for junior pieces of the loan.

He adds that, given the first-class nature of the asset and the quality of the tenancy, "It's reasonable to assume that the long-term prospects are extremely favorable."

Ken Krasnow, executive managing director and New York leader for Cushman & Wakefield agrees. "Long term, there's tremendous bullishness for Downtown," he says, "and 180 Maiden La. is one of the best buildings in the market."


© 2004 by GlobeSt.com, LLC.

[krulltime]

State Agencies Lease 250,000 sf Downtown


July 15, 2004

In a major downtown leasing transaction, the New York State Department of Health and Public Service Commission have leased nearly 250,000 square feet of space comprising four full floors at 90 Church Street.

The agencies plan to relocate from four different locations -- 1 Penn Plaza, 5 Penn Plaza, 80 Maiden Lane and Gertz Plaza in Queens – into their new facilities during the first quarter of next year.

The 15-story, 1.1 million square foot office building at 90 Church Street, between Vesey and Barclay Streets, is owned by the U.S. Postal Service, leased to 90 Church L.P., and managed by Boston Properties.

Peter Hennessy, Janet Woods and Natasha Szarkowski of the Staubach Company’s New York office represented both state agencies in the 10-year leasing transaction valued at $68 million. Drew Conner of Boston Properties represented the landlord.

"The consolidation move reduces the state’s lease obligation, increases operational efficiency, and helps promote growth in the downtown marketplace," said Hennessy. "This lease is a ‘win-win’ for everyone."


Copyright 2003-2004 The Real Deal.

[krulltime]

$91M SALE ON 31ST ST.

By LOIS WEISS
July 16, 2004

In the latest deal to hit the frothy Manhattan real estate market, Tribeca Associates pocketed a $30 million profit yesterday on the $91 million sale of its Midtown office building, Penncom Plaza.

The buyers were sophisticated local players Zamir Associates and C&K Properties, and the deal was brokered by the Cushman & Wakefield team of Richard Baxter, Ron Cohen, Scott Latham and Jon Caplan, with Heather Brownfeld and Nat Rockett.

Just last December, Tribeca Associates principals Bill Brodsky and Elliott Ingerman and their investment partner, Ritchie Capital, paid a joint venture of Blackacre Capital Management and Taconic Investment Partners $62.75 million for the 18-story building, brokered through Woody Heller at Studley.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[krulltime]

NYPost Commercial Real Estate

By STEVE CUOZZO
July 20, 2004

The 42-story office tower that is home to Court TV, 600 Third Ave., is being sold by Sumitomo Corp. of America to GE Asset Management and L&L Acquisitions for $212 million, or $420 a square foot.

The sale, now in contract, is a sweet comeback for L&L, owned by David W. Levinson and Robert Lapidus. The duo and their partners narrowly lost out on bidding last month for 480 Lexington Ave. and 750 Third.

The Court TV building, located at 39th Street, is the biggest purchase yet for L&L, whose other holdings include 150 Fifth Ave. and part of Metropolitan Tower.

"We characterize it as a very high-end Third Avenue boutique building that has historically attracted company headquarters as its major tenants," an exultant Levinson said.

Sources said interest in 600 Third ran high; both Mortimer Zuckerman's Boston Properties and a partnership led by Edward Minskoff made it to the last round.

Besides Court TV, which has 140,000 square feet there (with all its studios), tenants include Sumitomo, which remains as a tenant; space/defense contractor Loral; and L3 Communications.

CB Richard Ellis's Darcy Stacom, who brokered the deal for Sumitomo with CBRE's William Shanahan, said the building "has always been sort of a sleeper," because of its location at the southernmost end of the Third Avenue office corridor. "But it's been over 95 percent leased to top-credit tenants for over 20 years," she said.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[krulltime]

JPM TO ROLL BACK ITS NYC PRESENCE


By STEVE CUOZZO
July 20, 2004

J.P. Morgan Chase, a his toric pillar of downtown real estate and employment, plans to shed up to a whopping half-million square feet of Lower Manhattan office space in the wake of its merger with Chicago-based Bank One, sources said.

The bank currently has about 2 million square feet of offices downtown, not including a 500,000-foot block that it had already decided — before the merger — to dump when the lease expires in 2006.

No one at J.P. Morgan Chase would discuss how many jobs would be cut if the bank decides to shed an additional 500,000 square feet. A real estate industry rule of thumb allocates 250 square feet to each employee, meaning a potential loss downtown of 2,000 jobs.

But sources familiar with J.P. Morgan Chase's strategy said the real estate cutbacks would likely result in a lesser number of job reductions, because not all of the bank's downtown floors are occupied.

A spokesman for the city's Economic Development Corp., Michael Sherman, said, "It's too early to predict the effects of the merger. We have been in discussions with J.P. Morgan to get a better understanding of the implications for the city as the company moves to rationalize its real estate portfolio. We continue to talk to the company so that together we can arrive at the best possible outcome for the city."

J.P. Morgan Chase is moving its consumer banking headquarters to Chicago, but is keeping its corporate headquarters in New York, where it has more than 20,000 employees in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Real estate circles have buzzed for months about J.P. Morgan Chase's intentions downtown, where it owns two large office buildings, net-leases two others and is the largest tenant in a fifth.

As The Post previously reported, the bank will not renew its net-lease, expiring in 2006, at 2 Chase Manhattan Plaza, where it occupies 535,000 square feet. That decision, which pre-dates the merger, will not raise the vacancy rate because the tower is for sale and will likely be converted to apartments.

Now, however, J.P. Morgan Chase intends to unload between 300,000 and 500,000 square feet at one of its four other buildings: 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza or 4 New York Plaza, both of which the bank owns; 75 Wall St., where it is the main tenant; or 95 Wall St., where it holds a net-lease until 2011.

To determine which block would fetch the best price, the bank is "testing the waters" on each.

"They're playing 'let's make a deal,' " a banking source explained. "Once they've decided where it makes most sense to sell or lease space, they can simply juggle their employees by moving them from one building to another."

Brokers at CB Richard Ellis, which has been tapped to sift offers on the downtown space, had no comment, and referred questions to J.P. Morgan Chase.

Having feelers out on four different properties has given rise in recent weeks to fears — apparently mistaken — that J.P. Morgan Chase wanted to unload up to 2 million square feet.

Brokers attribute the confusion to the fact that J.P. Morgan Chase has yet to formally put the spaces on the market. "There are no flyers or electronic listings," one veteran dealmaker said. "But there's buzz — namely, that if you have a big tenant looking for space downtown, Chase has floors for you."

J.P. Morgan Chase spokeswoman Charlotte Gilbert-Biro had no comment other than, "We are absolutely committed to New York. In the process of rationalizing our real estate portfolio, we have surplus space and we are testing the market."

Abandoning 500,000 feet would be no favor to the downtown area, where vacancies have been slowly falling. Both CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield report availability ebbing below 13 percent.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[billyblancoNYC]

JPM TO ROLL BACK ITS NYC PRESENCE


By STEVE CUOZZO
July 20, 2004

J.P. Morgan Chase, a his toric pillar of downtown real estate and employment, plans to shed up to a whopping half-million square feet of Lower Manhattan office space in the wake of its merger with Chicago-based Bank One, sources said.

The bank currently has about 2 million square feet of offices downtown, not including a 500,000-foot block that it had already decided — before the merger — to dump when the lease expires in 2006.

No one at J.P. Morgan Chase would discuss how many jobs would be cut if the bank decides to shed an additional 500,000 square feet. A real estate industry rule of thumb allocates 250 square feet to each employee, meaning a potential loss downtown of 2,000 jobs.

But sources familiar with J.P. Morgan Chase's strategy said the real estate cutbacks would likely result in a lesser number of job reductions, because not all of the bank's downtown floors are occupied.

A spokesman for the city's Economic Development Corp., Michael Sherman, said, "It's too early to predict the effects of the merger. We have been in discussions with J.P. Morgan to get a better understanding of the implications for the city as the company moves to rationalize its real estate portfolio. We continue to talk to the company so that together we can arrive at the best possible outcome for the city."

J.P. Morgan Chase is moving its consumer banking headquarters to Chicago, but is keeping its corporate headquarters in New York, where it has more than 20,000 employees in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Real estate circles have buzzed for months about J.P. Morgan Chase's intentions downtown, where it owns two large office buildings, net-leases two others and is the largest tenant in a fifth.

As The Post previously reported, the bank will not renew its net-lease, expiring in 2006, at 2 Chase Manhattan Plaza, where it occupies 535,000 square feet. That decision, which pre-dates the merger, will not raise the vacancy rate because the tower is for sale and will likely be converted to apartments.

Now, however, J.P. Morgan Chase intends to unload between 300,000 and 500,000 square feet at one of its four other buildings: 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza or 4 New York Plaza, both of which the bank owns; 75 Wall St., where it is the main tenant; or 95 Wall St., where it holds a net-lease until 2011.

To determine which block would fetch the best price, the bank is "testing the waters" on each.

"They're playing 'let's make a deal,' " a banking source explained. "Once they've decided where it makes most sense to sell or lease space, they can simply juggle their employees by moving them from one building to another."

Brokers at CB Richard Ellis, which has been tapped to sift offers on the downtown space, had no comment, and referred questions to J.P. Morgan Chase.

Having feelers out on four different properties has given rise in recent weeks to fears — apparently mistaken — that J.P. Morgan Chase wanted to unload up to 2 million square feet.

Brokers attribute the confusion to the fact that J.P. Morgan Chase has yet to formally put the spaces on the market. "There are no flyers or electronic listings," one veteran dealmaker said. "But there's buzz — namely, that if you have a big tenant looking for space downtown, Chase has floors for you."

J.P. Morgan Chase spokeswoman Charlotte Gilbert-Biro had no comment other than, "We are absolutely committed to New York. In the process of rationalizing our real estate portfolio, we have surplus space and we are testing the market."

Abandoning 500,000 feet would be no favor to the downtown area, where vacancies have been slowly falling. Both CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield report availability ebbing below 13 percent.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

You knew this was gonna happen. 10K less jobs, Consumer banking to friggin' Chi, maybe jobs to CHI and NJ! Woo-hoo. Corporate America coming through for NYC again.

Really, what happened to the days when having a NYC address was IT. Now, they'd be happy in South Dakota, as long as the rent and salaries are cheap. It's really starting to irk me. **** THE EPS.

[Pottebaum]

JPM TO ROLL BACK ITS NYC PRESENCE


By STEVE CUOZZO
July 20, 2004

J.P. Morgan Chase, a his toric pillar of downtown real estate and employment, plans to shed up to a whopping half-million square feet of Lower Manhattan office space in the wake of its merger with Chicago-based Bank One, sources said.

The bank currently has about 2 million square feet of offices downtown, not including a 500,000-foot block that it had already decided — before the merger — to dump when the lease expires in 2006.

No one at J.P. Morgan Chase would discuss how many jobs would be cut if the bank decides to shed an additional 500,000 square feet. A real estate industry rule of thumb allocates 250 square feet to each employee, meaning a potential loss downtown of 2,000 jobs.

But sources familiar with J.P. Morgan Chase's strategy said the real estate cutbacks would likely result in a lesser number of job reductions, because not all of the bank's downtown floors are occupied.

A spokesman for the city's Economic Development Corp., Michael Sherman, said, "It's too early to predict the effects of the merger. We have been in discussions with J.P. Morgan to get a better understanding of the implications for the city as the company moves to rationalize its real estate portfolio. We continue to talk to the company so that together we can arrive at the best possible outcome for the city."

J.P. Morgan Chase is moving its consumer banking headquarters to Chicago, but is keeping its corporate headquarters in New York, where it has more than 20,000 employees in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Real estate circles have buzzed for months about J.P. Morgan Chase's intentions downtown, where it owns two large office buildings, net-leases two others and is the largest tenant in a fifth.

As The Post previously reported, the bank will not renew its net-lease, expiring in 2006, at 2 Chase Manhattan Plaza, where it occupies 535,000 square feet. That decision, which pre-dates the merger, will not raise the vacancy rate because the tower is for sale and will likely be converted to apartments.

Now, however, J.P. Morgan Chase intends to unload between 300,000 and 500,000 square feet at one of its four other buildings: 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza or 4 New York Plaza, both of which the bank owns; 75 Wall St., where it is the main tenant; or 95 Wall St., where it holds a net-lease until 2011.

To determine which block would fetch the best price, the bank is "testing the waters" on each.

"They're playing 'let's make a deal,' " a banking source explained. "Once they've decided where it makes most sense to sell or lease space, they can simply juggle their employees by moving them from one building to another."

Brokers at CB Richard Ellis, which has been tapped to sift offers on the downtown space, had no comment, and referred questions to J.P. Morgan Chase.

Having feelers out on four different properties has given rise in recent weeks to fears — apparently mistaken — that J.P. Morgan Chase wanted to unload up to 2 million square feet.

Brokers attribute the confusion to the fact that J.P. Morgan Chase has yet to formally put the spaces on the market. "There are no flyers or electronic listings," one veteran dealmaker said. "But there's buzz — namely, that if you have a big tenant looking for space downtown, Chase has floors for you."

J.P. Morgan Chase spokeswoman Charlotte Gilbert-Biro had no comment other than, "We are absolutely committed to New York. In the process of rationalizing our real estate portfolio, we have surplus space and we are testing the market."

Abandoning 500,000 feet would be no favor to the downtown area, where vacancies have been slowly falling. Both CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield report availability ebbing below 13 percent.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

You knew this was gonna happen. 10K less jobs, Consumer banking to friggin' Chi, maybe jobs to CHI and NJ! Woo-hoo. Corporate America coming through for NYC again.

Really, what happened to the days when having a NYC address was IT. Now, they'd be happy in South Dakota, as long as the rent and salaries are cheap. It's really starting to irk me. f*** THE EPS.


They didn't say 10,000 jobs..just around 2,000.

It still sucks, though. But maybe, with the merger, JP Morgan will get bigger over time.

And don't forget, Vacancy rates are dropping! I've read the last couple pages of this thread, and there's been all sorts of good news :D

[krulltime]

EASTDIL GETTING $350M+ FOR FIFTH AVENUE TOWER

http://www.therealdeal.net/breaking_news/July/images/1090439617.jpg
717 Fifth Avenue
Copyright 2003-2004 The Real Deal.

By LOIS WEISS
July 21, 2004

THE tony tower at 717 Fifth Ave., on the southeast corner of 56th Street, has apparently found a buyer for just over $350 million.

In an unusual move, investment bankers at Eastdil are working out the last details on a contract to sell the 450,570-square-foot tower — one of the city's best boutique office buildings — to a venture that will divide and conquer it.

Sources say the office portion will end up in the vulture hands of Sam Zell's Equity Office, while the retail pieces will be purchased by a group consisting of Feil Organization, Lloyd Goldman, Jeff Sutton and Stanley Chera.

The retail tracks across several lower levels and is more than 40,000 square feet, with tenants including Hugo Boss and Escada.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[billyblancoNYC]

JPM TO ROLL BACK ITS NYC PRESENCE


By STEVE CUOZZO
July 20, 2004

J.P. Morgan Chase, a his toric pillar of downtown real estate and employment, plans to shed up to a whopping half-million square feet of Lower Manhattan office space in the wake of its merger with Chicago-based Bank One, sources said.

The bank currently has about 2 million square feet of offices downtown, not including a 500,000-foot block that it had already decided — before the merger — to dump when the lease expires in 2006.

No one at J.P. Morgan Chase would discuss how many jobs would be cut if the bank decides to shed an additional 500,000 square feet. A real estate industry rule of thumb allocates 250 square feet to each employee, meaning a potential loss downtown of 2,000 jobs.

But sources familiar with J.P. Morgan Chase's strategy said the real estate cutbacks would likely result in a lesser number of job reductions, because not all of the bank's downtown floors are occupied.

A spokesman for the city's Economic Development Corp., Michael Sherman, said, "It's too early to predict the effects of the merger. We have been in discussions with J.P. Morgan to get a better understanding of the implications for the city as the company moves to rationalize its real estate portfolio. We continue to talk to the company so that together we can arrive at the best possible outcome for the city."

J.P. Morgan Chase is moving its consumer banking headquarters to Chicago, but is keeping its corporate headquarters in New York, where it has more than 20,000 employees in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Real estate circles have buzzed for months about J.P. Morgan Chase's intentions downtown, where it owns two large office buildings, net-leases two others and is the largest tenant in a fifth.

As The Post previously reported, the bank will not renew its net-lease, expiring in 2006, at 2 Chase Manhattan Plaza, where it occupies 535,000 square feet. That decision, which pre-dates the merger, will not raise the vacancy rate because the tower is for sale and will likely be converted to apartments.

Now, however, J.P. Morgan Chase intends to unload between 300,000 and 500,000 square feet at one of its four other buildings: 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza or 4 New York Plaza, both of which the bank owns; 75 Wall St., where it is the main tenant; or 95 Wall St., where it holds a net-lease until 2011.

To determine which block would fetch the best price, the bank is "testing the waters" on each.

"They're playing 'let's make a deal,' " a banking source explained. "Once they've decided where it makes most sense to sell or lease space, they can simply juggle their employees by moving them from one building to another."

Brokers at CB Richard Ellis, which has been tapped to sift offers on the downtown space, had no comment, and referred questions to J.P. Morgan Chase.

Having feelers out on four different properties has given rise in recent weeks to fears — apparently mistaken — that J.P. Morgan Chase wanted to unload up to 2 million square feet.

Brokers attribute the confusion to the fact that J.P. Morgan Chase has yet to formally put the spaces on the market. "There are no flyers or electronic listings," one veteran dealmaker said. "But there's buzz — namely, that if you have a big tenant looking for space downtown, Chase has floors for you."

J.P. Morgan Chase spokeswoman Charlotte Gilbert-Biro had no comment other than, "We are absolutely committed to New York. In the process of rationalizing our real estate portfolio, we have surplus space and we are testing the market."

Abandoning 500,000 feet would be no favor to the downtown area, where vacancies have been slowly falling. Both CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield report availability ebbing below 13 percent.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

You knew this was gonna happen. 10K less jobs, Consumer banking to friggin' Chi, maybe jobs to CHI and NJ! Woo-hoo. Corporate America coming through for NYC again.

Really, what happened to the days when having a NYC address was IT. Now, they'd be happy in South Dakota, as long as the rent and salaries are cheap. It's really starting to irk me. f*** THE EPS.


They didn't say 10,000 jobs..just around 2,000.

It still sucks, though. But maybe, with the merger, JP Morgan will get bigger over time.

And don't forget, Vacancy rates are dropping! I've read the last couple pages of this thread, and there's been all sorts of good news :D

10K jobs will be lost overall in the combined company, not just NY. Sorry.

[Edward]

Let's try to avoid using quotes in this way. Nobody is going to read the original article the fifth time around.

Give some credit to the people who read the thread - they have enough intelligence to follow the topic, without all this quoting.

If you think that the quoting is absolutely necessary, quote only a part of the post, not the whole post - that would be sufficient. Of course that involves some editing, but it makes the thread readable, and that’s the point.


JPM TO ROLL BACK ITS NYC PRESENCE


By STEVE CUOZZO
July 20, 2004

J.P. Morgan Chase, a his toric pillar of downtown real estate and employment, plans to shed up to a whopping half-million square feet of Lower Manhattan office space in the wake of its merger with Chicago-based Bank One, sources said.

The bank currently has about 2 million square feet of offices downtown, not including a 500,000-foot block that it had already decided — before the merger — to dump when the lease expires in 2006.

No one at J.P. Morgan Chase would discuss how many jobs would be cut if the bank decides to shed an additional 500,000 square feet. A real estate industry rule of thumb allocates 250 square feet to each employee, meaning a potential loss downtown of 2,000 jobs.

But sources familiar with J.P. Morgan Chase's strategy said the real estate cutbacks would likely result in a lesser number of job reductions, because not all of the bank's downtown floors are occupied.

A spokesman for the city's Economic Development Corp., Michael Sherman, said, "It's too early to predict the effects of the merger. We have been in discussions with J.P. Morgan to get a better understanding of the implications for the city as the company moves to rationalize its real estate portfolio. We continue to talk to the company so that together we can arrive at the best possible outcome for the city."

J.P. Morgan Chase is moving its consumer banking headquarters to Chicago, but is keeping its corporate headquarters in New York, where it has more than 20,000 employees in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Real estate circles have buzzed for months about J.P. Morgan Chase's intentions downtown, where it owns two large office buildings, net-leases two others and is the largest tenant in a fifth.

As The Post previously reported, the bank will not renew its net-lease, expiring in 2006, at 2 Chase Manhattan Plaza, where it occupies 535,000 square feet. That decision, which pre-dates the merger, will not raise the vacancy rate because the tower is for sale and will likely be converted to apartments.

Now, however, J.P. Morgan Chase intends to unload between 300,000 and 500,000 square feet at one of its four other buildings: 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza or 4 New York Plaza, both of which the bank owns; 75 Wall St., where it is the main tenant; or 95 Wall St., where it holds a net-lease until 2011.

To determine which block would fetch the best price, the bank is "testing the waters" on each.

"They're playing 'let's make a deal,' " a banking source explained. "Once they've decided where it makes most sense to sell or lease space, they can simply juggle their employees by moving them from one building to another."

Brokers at CB Richard Ellis, which has been tapped to sift offers on the downtown space, had no comment, and referred questions to J.P. Morgan Chase.

Having feelers out on four different properties has given rise in recent weeks to fears — apparently mistaken — that J.P. Morgan Chase wanted to unload up to 2 million square feet.

Brokers attribute the confusion to the fact that J.P. Morgan Chase has yet to formally put the spaces on the market. "There are no flyers or electronic listings," one veteran dealmaker said. "But there's buzz — namely, that if you have a big tenant looking for space downtown, Chase has floors for you."

J.P. Morgan Chase spokeswoman Charlotte Gilbert-Biro had no comment other than, "We are absolutely committed to New York. In the process of rationalizing our real estate portfolio, we have surplus space and we are testing the market."

Abandoning 500,000 feet would be no favor to the downtown area, where vacancies have been slowly falling. Both CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield report availability ebbing below 13 percent.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

You knew this was gonna happen. 10K less jobs, Consumer banking to friggin' Chi, maybe jobs to CHI and NJ! Woo-hoo. Corporate America coming through for NYC again.

Really, what happened to the days when having a NYC address was IT. Now, they'd be happy in South Dakota, as long as the rent and salaries are cheap. It's really starting to irk me. f*** THE EPS.


They didn't say 10,000 jobs..just around 2,000.

It still sucks, though. But maybe, with the merger, JP Morgan will get bigger over time.

And don't forget, Vacancy rates are dropping! I've read the last couple pages of this thread, and there's been all sorts of good news :D

10K jobs will be lost overall in the combined company, not just NY. Sorry.

[krulltime]

Russian Tea Room bought by developer
by Wendy Blake

The Russian Tea Room has been bought by a local developer who’s been making a business of buying up New York landmarks.

Gerald Lieblich led an investor group called RTR Funding Group that bought the famed West 57th Street eatery from the U.S. Golf Association, according to Belkin Wenig & Goldman, the law firm that represented the buyer. The reported price of the deal, which was inked last week, was $20 million.

The golf association bought the shuttered restaurant in 2002 for $16 million, with plans to turn it into a museum. But those plans fell through because of a disagreement with the state over how the facility would be overseen, and the cost involved in adapting the building.

Mr. Lieblich acquired Loew's Paradise, a storied movie theater in the Bronx, in 2001 and is renovating it. In the 1990s, he bought the Greenwich Village building that housed Coach House, a legendary fine-dining restaurant that has been transformed into trendy trattoria Babbo.


Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc

[krulltime]

Cantor Fitzgerald to get permanent HQ

July 26, 2004

Cantor Fitzgerald, which has been operating in temporary office space since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, says it will move its corporate headquarters to a building just off Park Avenue in midtown.

The bond trading firm, along with its online subsidiary, eSpeed Inc., will move into space currently occupied by Bloomberg News, the wire service and financial information provider, at 110 E. 59th St. Bloomberg is building a new headquarters for itself one block east on Lexington Avenue.

Cantor says it expects to start moving its employees to its new 125,000-square-foot space in the first quarter of next year. It currently operates in an office at 135 E. 57th St.

"This new location will support our future growth and provide a long-term foundation on which we can continue to build on our success," said Cantor's chairman and chief executive, Howard Lutnick, in a statement.

Cantor lost 658 employees on Sept. 11, more than any other firm. It was headquartered in the top floors of the World Trade Center's north tower at the time. In its new location, Cantor will occupy a portion of the ground floor, plus floors two through seven.

Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc

[krulltime]

Cantor lost 658 employees on Sept. 11, more than any other firm. It was headquartered in the top floors of the World Trade Center's north tower at the time.

oh well... there goes any chance to reconsider (down)town (the drain). :(

[Kris]

July 27, 2004

Firm That Lost 658 in Twin Towers Finds a Home on 59th

By CHARLES V. BAGLI

Nearly three years after 658 Cantor Fitgerald employees were killed in the attack on the World Trade Center, the stock and bond trading company has found a new home five miles from ground zero, on the East Side of Manhattan.

Cantor signed a lease last week to move into space now occupied by Bloomberg L.P., the business information company founded by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, at Park Avenue and 59th Street, where Cantor plans to erect a monument to the co-workers who died in the Sept. 11 attack.

The company expects to move to its new headquarters from its temporary offices nearby early next year, after Bloomberg has moved to its new headquarters at Lexington Avenue and 58th Street. Cantor, which got about $30 million in state and federal cash grants, said it would add more than 200 employees in the coming years.

"This is a milestone in that we've completed the rebuilding process," said Howard W. Lutnick, chief executive of Cantor. "Now we're going forward and expanding."

Cantor has 618 employees today, up from about 300 after the attack, but still short of the nearly 1,000 before it.

"We're pleased that Cantor is rebuilding a business that is so important to the bond markets," said Charles A. Gargano, chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation. "They're committed to New York."

Cantor Fitzgerald's announcement came after years of negotiations and some friction with state and city officials and between the Bloomberg administration and Sheldon Silver, speaker of the State Assembly. City and state officials though Mr. Lutnick was seeking too much in subsidies and incentives, but no one was willing to criticize Mr. Lutnick publicly for fear it would prompt a backlash from people sympathetic to the company's losses.

Cantor lobbied successfully in Congress in 2002 for a special appropriation for companies that "suffered a disproportionate loss" of life on Sept. 11. State officials subsequently agreed to give Cantor $23.5 million of the $33 million appropriation. In addition, the company received a $6 million grant from a federal program for job creation and retention in Lower Manhattan.

City and state officials say that Mr. Lutnick originally vowed that he would not return to Lower Manhattan and did not want to be in a skyscraper. He hired Mitchell Konsker, a broker at Cushman & Wakefield, to look for locations. Two years ago, Cantor was close to a deal to build a new $100 million headquarters in a former department store in Union Square.

Those negotiations collapsed, and last year, Mr. Lutnick considered a move to 10 Hanover Square in Lower Manhattan, where rents are considerably cheaper than uptown. Mr. Silver, whose district includes Lower Manhattan, supported the move.

According to state officials and real estate executives, Mr. Lutnick wanted $12 million more in subsidies. Much to Mr. Silver's chagrin, the Bloomberg administration balked at providing benefits beyond the grants the company had already obtained.

Mr. Silver said yesterday through a spokesman that he was "disappointed a deal couldn't be worked out."

Mr. Lutnick said that he had wanted to buy an office condominium at 10 Hanover, but that it proved impossible.

So Cantor eventually went back uptown, to 110 E. 59th Street, where it plans to move into the bottom seven floors. The company has the rights to put up signs on the building. Mr. Lutnick said he was working with the Guggenheim museum to design an appropriate monument for the plaza outside.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

[krulltime]

Brookfield in talks to rent 3 WFC space


July 28, 2004

Brookfield Properties, lower Manhattan’s largest landlord, is in talks with three tenants for about 600,000 square feet of space at the largely vacant 3 World Financial Center.

The talks were reported by Dow Jones Newswires after the company’s CEO, Richard Clark, addressed investors in a conference call. Brookfield today reported a 50% jump in second-quarter earnings, to $80 million, and said funds from operations rose 85%, to $162 million, in the quarter.

Mr. Clark remarked on the pickup in leasing activity in New York, where Brookfield reported an occupancy rate of 97.9% in its portfolio properties for the second quarter, compared with 97.5% a year earlier. Striking some big deals at 3 WFC would be a coup for the office landlord, which bought Lehman Brothers’ 51% stake in the property after Sept. 11, 2001.


Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc

[TonyO]

Food for thought: Midtown Manhattan has around 70,000 hotel rooms. Downtown Manhattan has around 2500.

Source: Jones Lang LaSalle Real Estate

[kliq6]

honestly some of midtwons hotel rooms are in dumps like the New Yorker, Hotel Pennsylvania and the Milford Plaza, three of the largest hotel room providers in midtown, based on the Crains NY listing. All three of these places are dumps and i wish atleast Vornado Realty, which owns the Hotel Penn would go through with its proposed plan to take it down and build a new office tower on its site. However it took them 10 years to build 731 lexington so im not holding my breath

[krulltime]

Leverage and speed win frenzied bidding wars
Large number of building sales marked by nonrefundable cash and quick closings


By Christine Haughney
Published on August 02, 2004

It's no news that residential buyers are resorting to fierce bidding wars to close on deals in the overheated residential real estate market. But some of the most dramatic residential bargaining tactics are beginning to pale in comparison with the high-stakes competition for Manhattan commercial properties.

In what is becoming the standard rather than the exception, buyer Kent Swig last month put down an estimated $70 million and closed on Art Deco skyscraper 80 Broad St. in little more than a week.

"It was presented to me, and nine days later I closed," says Mr. Swig, who also recently purchased 44 Wall St. and 5 Hanover Square in record closing times. "You have to go in and rip apart and analyze the deal very, very quickly."

While select Manhattan office buildings have long attracted bidding wars among the world's wealthiest investors, real estate experts say that the overall office market is approaching a frenzied level, based on the volume of sales and the speed in which deals are closing in recent months.

Driven by low interest rates and improving rental rates in the city, buyers are plunking down millions of dollars in nonrefundable cash deposits, shortening the due diligence process and often conducting round-the-clock closings in less than 30 days. Even the downtown market--where buyers have held the bargaining power for years--is experiencing similar frenetic action.


Leap in transactions

"There's momentum building in terms of volume, the square-foot prices being paid and the number of transactions in the downtown market," says Scott Latham, a Cushman & Wakefield Inc. executive director whose recent deals include the sales of 44 Wall St., 90 West St., 20 Exchange Place and 95 Wall St. "This is relatively significant because there were virtually no transactions two years ago."

But some buyers are hesitant to play by these latest rules and are skeptical that these deals will ever turn a profit.


Bids lost

"I don't do 90%-leverage and I don't sign seven-day contracts," says Norman Sturner, principal of Murray Hill Properties. His firm recently lost bids on four deals on Park and Fifth avenues to more highly leveraged bidders before it bought the leasehold on The Sports Illustrated Building at 135 W. 50th St. "We never lost a building (to financial distress) in 34 years, and I'm not about to start now."

Still, Cushman & Wakefield data show that the sales market is attracting more enthusiasts than skeptics. During the first half of 2004, 30 buildings sold for a total of $5.1 billion, compared with all of 2002, when 48 buildings sold for a total of $7.3 billion.

The latest buyers tend to be highly leveraged private investors. Private equity purchased 60% of buildings this year, compared with 19% in 2002. REITs shrunk to 13% of the buyers in 2004, compared with 37% in 2002.

The rush to buy in heavily leveraged deals started with last year's sale of the General Motors Building. Harry Macklowe paid $1.4 billion for the property, put down only a $50 million nonrefundable deposit and arranged for financing in record time. With the improving economy, a stream of buyers are now mimicking his methods.

"It feels like for any decent office building that has multiple bids, it has hard contracts, quick closings and no contingencies," says Robert Verrone, who heads Wachovia Securities' large loan group, which has financed deals for Joseph Moinian, Edward Minskoff and SL Green Realty Corp.

Lately, buyers are adapting the style they've been using in midtown to the downtown market, which finally is showing signs of rebounding since the Sept. 11 attack. Data kept by real estate brokerage firm Studley show that while three downtown buildings sold for $150 million in all of 2003, seven downtown buildings worth $1.5 billion already have sold this year, and six more area buildings worth $1.3 billion are about to change hands.


Infrastructure appeal

Real estate sources say that many developers are convinced that infrastructure investments, including the new PATH station, the Fulton Street Transit Center and the planned retail center, will help their investments compound in value.

"Downtown is the place where a lot of investors feel that there is money to be made," says William Shanahan, a CB Richard Ellis executive vice president and partner whose most recent sales deals include 1200 Fifth Ave. and 170 East End Ave., which is under contract.

The sale in May of 140 Broadway--by Larry Silverstein and Morgan Stanley to German firm DIFA--for $465 million is also giving buyers confidence in lower Manhattan. "Because it was German, because it was a big price and because it was associated with Larry Silverstein, it did attract attention," says Woody Heller, an executive managing director of Studley's capital transactions group. "It made people sit up and say that the downtown investment market is back."


Conversion options

Buyers looking at the downtown market often have two game plans in mind. They can continue to rent the space out as offices or convert it into luxury apartments, which can be even more profitable.

"People are saying, `I'll try it as an office building. If I screw up, I can convert it,' " says Davar Rad, whose company, Crown Properties, is in agreement to sell 61 Broadway.

But some buyers fear that the combination of high prices and rushed due diligence could produce the same results throughout the city as did the bidding wars of the 1980s.

"It's similar to when the Japanese and Arabs came to New York," says Mr. Sturner. "They bid up the price and did very little due diligence. Eventually, they didn't make a profit."


Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc

[krulltime]

DOWNTOWN TUNE FOR WOR RADIO


By STEVE CUOZZO

August 10, 2004 -- WOR Radio, the pioneer AM station which has broadcast out of Midtown's 1440 Broadway for 76 years, is moving to Lower Broadway near Wall Street — a milestone in the station's history and a breakthrough relocation to downtown by a major media concern.

Yesterday, WOR's owner, Buckley Broadcasting, signed a 15-year lease for the entire third floor at 111 Broadway, the landmark 1905 structure at the corner of Cedar Street.

The 22,152 square foot-space the station's studios and offices will occupy when it moves next winter is modest in size but large in symbolism.

WOR will be the only commercial radio station based in Lower Manhattan. Downtown Alliance President Carl Weisbrod hailed it as "great news and further evidence that downtown's economy is diversifying. I hope it proves a pioneer for more media to come."

All-talk WOR (710 on the dial) boasts more than 9 million daily listeners.

Its talent lineup includes talkmeister Bob Grant, relationship expert Dr. Joy Brown, foodie Arthur Schwartz, consumer whiz Joan Hamburg, and, in syndication, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly.

Landlord Richard Cohen was represented by CB Richard Ellis's Bradley Gerla with Adam Foster; WOR was repped by Tenantwise president M. Myers Mermel with Caroline McLain.

WOR, a pioneer in the talk-radio format, has been at 1440 Broadway since 1928.

Buckley Broadcasting President Richard Buckley cited several reasons for the move, including the fact that the new headquarters tower for the New York Times on Eighth Avenue will block the signal from the station's studio antenna at 1440 to its transmission tower in New Jersey.

But more important, he said, was that, "I've always been sort of intrigued with downtown after 9/11. I thought it would be an interesting move because downtown is blossoming into a tremendously vibrant area — not just with the new World Trade Center, but with housing conversion and the new transit hub."

With WOR's lease due to expire in 2006, Buckley said, "We looked at four or five buildings down there and we liked 111 Broadway immediately."

CBRE's Gerla said, "Once they looked at our building, they saw that it offered an economic package as well as infrastruture that made a lot of sense for them."

Empire State Development Corp. chairman Charles Gargano said, "I've followed WOR since I was a kid — they're an icon of New York." He said the station, with about 75 employes, is eligible for up to $3,500 per staffer under ESDC's federally-backed, small-firm attraction and retention program for Lower Manhattan.

Gerla wouldn't say what WOR was paying but said asking rents at 111 Broadway are $32 a square foot. By comparison, current asking rents at 1440 Broadway are around $40.

Mermel wouldn't talk specifics either, but said the station's "long history and excellent credit made them an attractive tenant worthy of substantial benefits" at 111 Broadway.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[krulltime]

City tax breaks for 6 companies


by Catherine Tymkiw

The city is giving more than $11.5 million in real estate and sales tax incentives to help Virgin America set up its new headquarters in the city and aid five other firms.

The city is giving more than $11.5 million in real estate and sales tax incentives to help Virgin America set up its new headquarters in the city and aid five other firms.

In its August round of incentives, the city Industrial Development Agency approved up to $4.9 million in sales tax breaks to help Virgin America, a new low-fare airline, set up its new headquarters in the city. Virgin plans on creating 400 jobs within five years.

Staten Island's New York Container Terminal, formerly the Howland Hook Marine Terminal, was approved for $3.5 million in sales tax breaks to help it modernize and expand. The terminal plans to add at least 50 workers to its 430-employee workforce over three years.

A to Z Bohemian Glass, a midtown Manhattan-based importer and distributor of glass beads, will receive $977,000 in real estate and sales tax incentives to help finance the company's relocation to the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. A to Z plans to buy and renovate a single-story building. It also expects to add seven employees to its staff of about 40 over three years.

Orion Mechanical Systems, a Long Island City, Queens-based firm that provides commercial heating, ventilation and air conditioning services, will receive $823,000 in sales tax incentives to help it buy and renovate the building it now leases. The project is expected to cost $2 million and allow the company to add 17 jobs to its 86-person workforce over three years.

S. DiFazio and Sons Construction and Faztec Industries, two Staten Island-based contractors specializing in utility projects, will receive $1.34 million in sales tax and real estate incentives to buy land that they will combine with property they already own to construct a shared maintenance facility and office building. The companies, which employ 101 people between them, plan to add 16 jobs over three years.


Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc

[Zoe]

NYC's Plaza Hotel sold for $675M
Millennium & Copthorne sells Fifth Avenue landmark, citing soft returns.
August 13, 2004: 6:22 AM EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - British firm Millennium & Copthorne said Friday it sold New York's Plaza Hotel for $675 million, bidding farewell to one of Fifth Avenue's most fabled addresses.
The 97-year-old hotel has hosted many of the world's celebrities, including Hollywood stars Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who held a wedding reception there. It has also been the setting for many famous movie scenes, and the focal point of a whole film -- "Plaza Suite" -- written by Neil Simon.
However, the hotel's returns were not good enough for Millennium & Copthorne (M&C), which runs over 90 hotels across the world and is 52 percent owned by Singapore-based property firm City Developments Ltd.
"Compared with the recent earnings generated by the hotel, the sale price is an attractive exit earnings multiple," Chairman Kwek Leng Beng said in a statement.
The transaction will see Plaza Operating Partners, in which M&C has a 50 percent stake, sell the Plaza and the adjoining property for $675 million.
The sale is to U.S. property firm El Ad Properties NY LLC, and M&C will use the proceeds to help cut debt.
M&C shares were up 3.8 percent at 315 pence in early morning trade. Brokerage Teather & Greenwood kept a "hold" rating on the stock Friday.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/13/news/international/plaza.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

[Pottebaum]

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-5nyofficesaug08,0,7015906.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed

[billyblancoNYC]

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-5nyofficesaug08,0,7015906.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed

This makes me so sick I can't even type it out.

[kliq6]

it will only continue, higher taxes, a awful state government, NIMBYS and corporte taxes will keep driving them out

[NewYorkYankee]

it will only continue, higher taxes, a awful state government, NIMBYS and corporte taxes will keep driving them out :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: Damn Them then!

[Pottebaum]

I was under the impression that the situation was improving....Most of these jobs are back offices or technical--but still, it sucks. NYC always pull through, though :D

[kliq6]

yeah i agree it always stayes strong but the lost of such fortune 500 firms like IBM, Pepsico, ITT, AT&T as well as the dispersal of many others, has to be something to keep in mind. If the city keeps making these mistakes, how many more firms will just leave

[billyblancoNYC]

It's the truth. We can only hope that DT Brooklyn and LIC would help this, add some jobs, and maybe take some back. Also, with the addition of so much Hudson Yards space, this would hopefully be a good thing for everyone but the landlords.

[dchui]

I was under the impression that the situation was improving....Most of these jobs are back offices or technical--but still, it sucks. NYC always pull through, though :D

One thing I want to point out ... I've noticed that sometimes people (including NYC politicians) imply that the loss of some jobs is not as bad because they're back office type jobs. I know people whose jobs fall into the back office category and they're making well in excess of $100,000/year. While this is chump change compared to some of the other jobs in Manhattan, this is still not what you want to see moved out of NYC.

[billyblancoNYC]

I was under the impression that the situation was improving....Most of these jobs are back offices or technical--but still, it sucks. NYC always pull through, though :D

One thing I want to point out ... I've noticed that sometimes people (including NYC politicians) imply that the loss of some jobs is not as bad because they're back office type jobs. I know people whose jobs fall into the back office category and they're making well in excess of $100,000/year. While this is chump change compared to some of the other jobs in Manhattan, this is still not what you want to see moved out of NYC.

Right. They have to do that, put a good spin on it. Back-office jobs typically mean IT jobs, which are important and typically well-paying. NO jobs should leave NYC. We need as many as we can get, in all areas and pay scales. The city just needs to wake up to reality. The almighty dollar is first and foremost in most people's minds and we have to work with that.

[Pottebaum]

Has the city/state government shown any signs of wanting to prevent this?

[kliq6]

the state just blocked the JAvits expansion and this type of job lose has been going on for years without anything beiong done so the answer is NO. They in Albany are more concerned with Upstate regions

[Pottebaum]

Don't get too down--I found a 'good news' article!

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nycoffices0817aug17,0,1824899.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

[billyblancoNYC]

the state just blocked the JAvits expansion and this type of job lose has been going on for years without anything beiong done so the answer is NO. They in Albany are more concerned with Upstate regions

This is true, it's very Up vs. Down in Albany. But let's be honest, the NYC politicos alone do a real job of hemming and hawing and debating and crying and whining and foot-stamping.

It's a disaster up there and down here. Someone really needs to