●savills studley
RFR buys Welfare Agency home
RFR Holding LLC, along with joint venture partner Real Estate Capital Partners, has closed on the acquisition of 281 Park Avenue South.
The historic pre-war 44,000 s/f office building was purchased for a price in excess of $50 million.
The transaction was brokered by Savills Studley, the global commercial real estate firm.
Savills Studley’s senior managing director Howard Poretsky, and senior managing director Patrick Gardner, along with John Ciraulo and Robert Shapiro of Massey Knakal, represented the seller in the transaction, the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA).
FPWA has owned and managed the landmark property for more than 50 years, and will reinvest the money from the sale in the organization to tackle social issues that affect the poor and working poor, and to support member agencies.
Both Poretsky and Gardner have significant experience in representing not for profit organizations.
According to Poretsky, the transaction closed just before the end of Q4 2014 making it one of the biggest deals in the neighborhood during the quarter.
However, he notes that the “social impact” of the transaction will influence the surrounding community for generations to come.
“Besides the delight of crafting such an important and beneficial transaction on behalf of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies that will sustain their mission of refining social issues, it was reassuring to find a buyer in Mr. Rosen who appreciates the architectural features throughout the entire building and who will likely preserve this incredible, centrally located city landmark,” said Poretsky.
The six-story property, located on the southeast corner of E22nd Street, has a terra cotta stone façade, as well as a restored copper and terra-cotta roof, marble mosaic floors, wood wainscoting, and stained glass windows.
The 106-year-old building was officially designated a New York City landmark in 1979 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
New ownership plans to reposition the property for future office use.
●eastern consolidated
Meatpacking leasehold offer hits market
Eastern Consolidated has been retained as the exclusive agent to market for sale the long-term leasehold interest at 437-439 West 16th Street in the Meatpacking District, for $52 million.
Located on the North side of West 17th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, the five-story, 27,000 s/f property is net leased to luxury home furnishing brand Restoration Hardware.
The property, which features 51 feet of frontage along the North side of West 16th Street, is directly across from Chelsea Market near the High Line.
It has five above-grade floors, measuring to a total of 22,000 s/f, which are currently occupied by Restoration Hardware and the company’s art gallery, RH Contemporary Art Gallery.
There is another 5,000 s/f in a usable basement, a portion of which is occupied by professional photo and production lab Picturehouse and The Small Dark Room.
The building also has a 4,000 s/f landscape roof terrace.
“This offering presents investors the opportunity to acquire a high credit, income-producing, long-term net leased boutique office and gallery building in one of the most desired locations in the United States,” said David Schechtman, who along with Lipa Lieberman, Abie Kassin, and Elie Dayan represent the seller, 437 West 16th Street LLC.
“This property also has future potential to be an owner-occupied/user property and part of a future assemblage.”
The net lease to Restoration Hardware runs through January 2029.
● marcus & millichap
Comfort Inn for sale
Marcus & Millichap is marketing the Comfort Inn Times Square South Area, a 78-room hotel near Times Square, at $35 million.
Jerry T. Swon and Michael Rothstein, both in Marcus & Millichap’s Manhattan office, and Gordon Allred, in the firm’s Ontario, Calif. office, are representing the seller.
According to Allred, “Our survey of 16 similarly branded hospitality properties in the local market shows revenue enhancement opportunities and ADR growth potential for this asset.”
Built in 2007, the Comfort Inn Times Square South Area has a multi-lingual staff, full- service concierge, uniformed security, on-site surveillance cameras, breakfast buffet, laundry/dry cleaning service, business center and express check-in and check-out service.
●greystone
Apartment plan for
Park Slope properties
Greystone has acquired two adjacent properties, a vacant lot and a landmarked building in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
The combined acquisition price for the properties is $21.1 million.
The first property, known as the Brooklyn Lyceum, is located at 227 4th Avenue.
Originally constructed as a public bathhouse and then utilized as a café and performance space in recent years, Greystone won a bid for the property at a Kings County foreclosure auction in October 2014 for $7.6 million.
A landmarked building, Greystone will restore the façade and transform the interior into townhouse-style condominium residences above first-floor retail space.
The second property acquired in Park Slope is the adjoining vacant lot at 225 4th Avenue.
The planned structure on this site will comprise 68 rental units and 3,500 s/f of first-floor retail space.
Intended as a complement to the adjacent landmarked structure, this building will offer a number of separate luxury amenities for its residents.
RKF has been retained to market the retail space for both properties to prospective tenants.
The purchase is the latest in a flurry of deal for Greystone Property Development team in prime locations in New York City and Miami, FL.
●ipa
Nursing home fetches $16M
Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap Inc. specializing in serving institutional and major private real estate investors, announced the sale of the Chautauqua County Home.
The 133-room, 216-bed skilled nursing facility ear Lake Erie in Dunkirk, N.Y. sold for $16 million or $74,000 per bed.
“Chautauqua County Home is a large facility with a significant number of beds, robust revenues, high historical occupancy and an attractive physical plant with new and extremely efficient mechanical systems,” said IPA senior director Joshua Jandris.
“Operationally, the facility was losing money,” noted IPA executive director Mark Myers.
“The buyer plans to implement significant positive changes that will convert the negative cash flow into a profitable operation.”
Jandris and Myers represented the seller, Chautauqua County, and procured the buyer, a growing regional provider with a handful of facilities in upstate N.Y.
●epic commercial realty
Upper East Side opportunity
EPIC Commercial Realty is marketing 1664 1st Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
The four –story mixed-use building is being sold with the option of purchasing 16,000 s/f of additional air rights from a neighboring property.
Being built 6,000 s/f, the building has 12,500 s/f of additional air rights before the bonus from the neighboring site; this provides a unique opportunity for an investor.
The walk-up building is currently home to The East End Bar on the ground floor and six one-bedroom, box-style apartments above.
“The property presents the perfect opportunity, especially considering the 2nd Avenue subway line which being constructed and set to start operating in 2016,” said Ido Tzaidi, who has listed the property at $12 million.
●HFF
Holiday Inn sale, leaseback
HFF has closed the $22.4 million ground sale/leaseback and arranged $21 million financing for Holiday Inn Manhattan View, a 136-key, full-service hotel located in Long Island City, Queens.
HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Queens Plaza North, LLC.
A New York-based private investor purchased the land under the hotel and then leased it back to Queens Plaza North, LLC, for 99 years.
In addition, HFF worked on behalf of Queens Plaza North, LLC, to secure a fixed-rate loan through CCRE.
Holiday Inn Manhattan View is situated on.29 acres at 39-05 29th Street in Long Island City, three miles west of LaGuardia Airport and 1.5 miles east of Manhattan.
The HFF team working on the transactions was led by managing director Robert Delitsky, director KC Patel and real estate analysts Jackie Ferrer and Cindy True.
●schuckman realty
Deer Parking retail center nets $29M
Schuckman Realty announced the sale of the Deer Park Commons Shopping Center, a 95,000 s/f shopping center located in Deer Park, NY.
The property sold for $27,800,000.
The center is located at the intersection of Commack Road and Long Island Avenue.
It is 96 percent leased to tenants including Retro Fitness, Texas Roadhouse, Dollar Tree, T-Mobile, Advance Auto, Weight Watchers.
In the transaction, Edward Gottlieb and Michael Lembeck of Schuckman Realty represented buyer Aaron Daniels, Adam Daniels and Abraham Daniels of A.D Real Estate Investors Inc, and seller, Unicorp. Development.
●terra crg
Park Slope portfolio offering
TerraCRG has been retained to sell the 47-unit portfolio on Eighth Avenue in the heart of Park Slope.
Ofer Cohen, Adam J. Hess, Melissa Warren, Dan Marks, Mike Hernandez, and Sam Shalumov are representing the sellers.
The buildings are located at 719-723 Eighth Avenue and 704 Eighth Avenue, a block from Prospect Park.
The assets total 45,000 s/f, 45 residential units, two office spaces and a cell tower. 22 percent of the residential units are rent regulated and the rents for these units are 70 percent below market. Most free-market units have been gut renovated.
“This offering presents an extremely rare opportunity to acquire institutional grade assets, with a majority of the apartments destabilized and renovated in one of the most sought after neighborhoods in the country,” sais Adam Hess, partner and senior vice president at TerraCRG.
“There are very few large multifamily buildings in Park Slope and even fewer are offered for sale, particularly in close proximity to Prospect Park,” Hess adds.
●modern spaces
Court Square parcel unwrapped
Modern Spaces’ Commercial & Investment Property Division is marketing The Court Square Assemblage, a parcel of seven tax lots in the Court Square section of Long Island City.
The listing price for the parcel/assemblage is $41.5 million.
In tandem with the Corcoran Group, Modern Spaces’ Commercial and Investment Property Group, led by Evan Daniel, and also involving David Roger Grossman, and Corcoran’s Andrew Mapp, will be marketing the seven properties that afford air rights amounting to a total 167,178 buildable square feet of space on an 11,145 square-foot lot.
“Describing this location as ‘opportunistic’ is only scratching the very surface of its value,” said Daniel.
“Not only does this parcel present the opportunity to join the fastest-growing development community in Queens, but the parcel is advantageously situated directly across the street from the Citi Tower, the tallest, most recognizable building in all of Queens,”
The parcel is zoned C5-3 for office, retail and mixed-use residential development.
● gfi realty services
Diner to become luxury condos
GFI Realty Services announced the $13 million sale of 1821 Emmons Avenue, in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.
The 41,700 s/f property formerly housed the iconic El Greco Diner.
GFI Realty senior director Erik Yankelovich was the sole broker in the transaction. The seller, a local family, had owned and operated El Greco since the 1970s.
The buyer, Rybak Development & Construction, plans to convert the property into a luxury condominium building with ground-floor retail.
“Southern Brooklyn is providing local businesspeople and property owners with excellent opportunities to maximize the return on their investments,” said Yankelovich.
The last parcel of underdeveloped land facing the bay, the full-block lot will house the latest addition to Rybak’s growing South Brooklyn multifamily portfolio.
The high-end development planned for 1821 Emmons includes a bay-facing rooftop deck, which will include a pool.
● falco isak realty services
Row houses scooped up
Rubin S. Isak, CEO/co-founderm and Alex Isak, director of sales for Falco Isak Realty Services, have sold three, 10-unit walk-up townhomes on West 76th in Manhattan for $15.5 million.
Brusco group purchased 303, 329 & 331 West 76th Street, aka, “The West 76th Street Portfolio,” comprised of three row houses totaling 17,141 s/f.
“The strong sales price of roughly $904 psf, 22.5 times GRM, a 2.5 percet Cap Rate and $516,666 per door demonstrates the demand for this type of product, as well as the unwavering strength of the Upper West Side Investment sales market,” said Isak. The sellers owned the buildings for over 45 years. The buyers are private investors based in the Upper West Side.
