July 2015: New York New Developments

New York University's campus expansion plans to expand the school by about 2 million square feet in Greenwich Village hasve been approved by Tthe New York State Court of Appeals.s gave an approval to New York University's campus expansion plans to expand the school by about 2 million square feet in Greenwich Village. Neighborhood activists sued to prevent the expansion, claiming it used land that was permanently designated for public park use. The plan will create new high rises on two blocks between West Third and Houston Streets and La Guardia Place and Mercer Street.

FAO Schwarz is close to moving its flagship store to a new, smaller space in Times Square after it vacates from its current location at the GM Building. The toy store is set to open its new space at the base of Paramount Group's 2.5 million-square-foot office tower at 1633 Broadway for Christmas 2016. They will occupy 40,000 square feet across two levels below ground for 15 years, with asking rent at $4 million a year.

Aurora Capital Associates and William Gottlieb Real Estate filed plans for their Gansevoort Row commercial redevelopment project in the Meatpacking District. The project calls for nine buildings at 46-74 Gansevoort Street, between Washington and Greenwich streets, to be renovated and converted into three main lots comprising of 111,000 square feet of commercial space.

A Midtown office building forced into auction after its owner, Aaron Chitrik, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at $31.5 million. The developer owns the 14-story, 63,000-square-foot building at 35th Street.">315 West 35th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Aavenues. The building's creditors include Isaac Chetrit, who acquired the debt on the property for $10.75 million in 2010. Chitrik bought the building for $16.2 million in 2006 with hopes of converting it into condos before the last economic downturn. Chetrit stepped in to acquire the property's mortgage after Chitrik's lenders sought to foreclose on the building's debt, though that deal was complicated by a 2011 fraud suit. Chitrik eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to save the building from being auctioned off, having defaulted on a nearly $25 million mortgage. The total undisputed debt on the property stands at around $29.5 million, with another $7 million subject to dispute.

Law firm Hogan Lovells is looking to move its New York City office west as it looks at space in Hudson Yards, most recently 250,000-square-foot at 55 Hudson Yards. The proposed 1.4 million-square-foot, 51-story tower at 55 Hudson Yards is being developed by Mitsui Fudosan, the Related Cos. and Oxford Properties. Earlier this month, the developers signed their first office tenant, a law firm, for 83,000 square feet.

The Moinian Group is planning to build a 28-story mixed-use residential building at 102 John Street in the Financial District. An existing five-story building on the site, located between Gold and Pearl streets, will get a vertical enlargement. The proposed 336-foot-tall development will have 92 residential units across more than 140,000 square feet of space, as well as nearly 59,000 square feet of commercial space. The project will feature a commercial gym, ground level retail and restaurant space. Offices will occupy the third and fourth floors. The building will also have a new 44-car basement-level parking garage.

A legal news service Law 360 signed on for 46,000 square feet at 111 West 19th Street, bringing the building to full occupancy. The eight-story property, located in Chelsea, has 185,000 square feet total. Advertising agency the Barbarian Group inked a 23,000-square-foot lease there in 2013. Law 360 has been growing its workforce at a rate of 20 to 30 percent each year for the past five or six years.

H&M has quietly closed its 24,000-square-foot store at 505 Fifth Avenue. Now Iit looks like the retailer may open one of its two higher-priced brands at the location. The retailer is considering a Cos or an & Other Stories store at the property. H&M will be rebranding the space and will continue its lease with different merchandise. H&M first leased the 42nd Street space in 2007. The three-floor leases have 7,500 square feet on the ground floor, 5,300 in the basement and 11,700 on the second floor.

A five-story Meatpacking District commercial building largely triple-net-leased to Restoration Hardware traded hands between two Manhattan families for $44.4 million. A family trust controlled by investors acquired the 27,000-square-foot building at 437-439 West 16th Street from Kleinberg Electric.

Vornado Realty Trust received a $205 million acquisition loan to help finance its purchase of the Old Navy building in Herald Square. Vornado bought the three-story building, located at 144-150 West 34th Street, for $35 million from a partnership between Starwood Capital Group and Crown Acquisitions. Starwood and Crown paid $252 million to acquire the retail property from KLM Construction last year. Morgan Stanley also helped finance that deal, lending $175 million to the partnership. The 78,000-square-foot building is fully leased to Old Navy, whose term expires in May 2019. The property also contains air rights allowing for 300,000 square feet of redevelopment.

L&L Holding Company recently just broke ground on its 47-story office tower at 425 Park Avenue, with asking rents but the developer is already envisioning big things for the building, iof ncluding unprecedented $250/RSF per foot rents. The firm plans to ask $for the 250 or more for space on the spec building's upper floors. This building is all about sustainability and wellness and productivity. Currently, only a few buildings have managed to break $200 per foot.

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai will open a new facility in Downtown Manhattan after signing a 15-year lease at 255 Greenwich Street in the Financial District. The medical school plans to move into the 14,600-square-foot space by the end of the year. The 600,000-square-foot building, located between Park Place and Murray Street, will keep the school's Executive Health and Wellness Center on part of the fifth floor.

MetLife is trying to Following its decision to consolidate all of its New York City offices in its namesake tower at 200 Park Avenue South., MetLife is also looking to sublet 400,000 square feet in 3 Bryant Park. The building, also known as 1095 Sixth Avenue, was purchased by Ivanhoe Cambridge and partner Callahan Capital paid for $2.2 billion earlier this year, and contains 1.2 million square feet total. Metlife hopes to sublet floors 13 to 20, 23, and 39 to 41 along with a private ground-floor lobby across from Bryant Park.

The mayor and City Council reached a deal to rezone the "Vanderbilt corridor," a five-block stretch of east Midtown around Grand Central Station, clearing the way for One Vanderbilt office tower. The agreement allows for much taller buildings in the area, in exchange for developer contributions to public improvement projects nearby. All building projects will still require special permits and be subject to full public review.
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The Chetrit Group's plans for the Building at 550 Madison Avenue could include an ultra luxury hotel brand coming to the property. Chetrit is allegedly in discussions with the likes of Germany's Oetker Collection, which could be interested in launching a version of the Bristol, the firm's five-star flagship, at 550 Madison Avenue. Other luxury hotel entities including Hong Kong's Shangri-La and Pierre Omidyar's Ohana Real Estate Investors have also expressed interest in the building. The hotel would occupy the 37-story tower's lower floors.

Eliot Spitzer is planning a boutique office building on the site of a Hudson Yards parking lot and . The former-governor-turned-developer is looking to build a roughly 415,000-square-foot mixed-use tower with some 300,000 square feet of office space at the northwest corner of 10th Avenue and 35th Street. The site sits adjacent to one he purchased for $88 million in late 2013. Spitzer quietly gained control of the corner lot at 451 Tenth Avenue, Nassau County-based developer Jorge Madruga's Maddd Equities entered into a 99-year lease on last year for $62 million. He intends to put up a 414,708-square-foot building with some 311,000 square feet of commercial office and retail space, with the remainder set aside for residential use. Next door, Spitzer Engineering plans to build a hotel with a possible residential component in a project of nearly identical size. -

Crate & Barrel is closing its flagship, 62,000-square-foot location at 650 Madison Avenue, about five years before its lease was to expire. It will now have only one New York City location, at Broadway">611 Broadway in Soho. There are no plans for relocation. 650 Madison Avenue was purchased for $1.3 billion in 2013 from the Carlyle Group and planned to raise rents beyond the $20 million per year that Crate & Barrel was already paying for the space. The owners are aiming to increase the value of the 75,000 square feet of retail to $1 billion.

One Park Lane, a 1,210-foot tall tower, is set to rise on the site of the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel., although some are fighting to save the 44-year-old building. Last year, Tthe city's Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected calls to landmark the hotel at 36 Central Park South and again, landmarks rejected another petition to landmark the building. Campaigners are back asking for records related to the LPC's decision. The preservation campaign has been criticized as an attempt by some to stop the project, rather than preserve a piece of architectural history.

Chabad Lubavitch of Midtown, A Midtown synagogue that enlisted Jeff Sutton's help to owner of acquire its premises at 509 Fifth Avenue, is now suing the Jeff Sutton mogul over signage at the property because that the . The Chabad Lubavitch of Midtown Manhattan claims in a lawsuit that Skechers' billboard at the property blocks the synagogue's new signage on the building's facade and prevents it from advertising and bringing in donations. In January, Skechers inked a 15-year lease for the 3,500-square-foot retail unit to replace former tenant Steve Madden. The asking rent was a reported $1,000 per square foot.

Gap, Inc. has been in talks to take either a portion or all of the 110,000 square feet at Broadway.">1514 Broadway that Toys 'R' Us is vacating early next year. The retailer's plan would be to split the square footage at the corner of West 44th Street and Broadway between a Gap and an Old Navy store. Asking rent on the 21,000-square-foot ground floor is $2,500 per square foot, while the ask for the lower level and second level are $150 and $350 per square foot, respectively. Toys R Us is reportedly paying half those amounts.

Prodigy Network applied to build its extended-stay hotel at 17 John Street and . Prodigy is planning to add eight stories to the existing 15-storystory Financial District building buildingat the site. . The building will contain encompass nearly 150,000 square feet. Prodigy bought the property for $85 million from Metro Loft Management last fall. The project includes combining shared workspace with short-term rental apartments and is being supported through crowdfunding. In total

, Prodigy is planning to launch the concept at two NoMad locations as well as 17 John Street. The first floor, which is being used for retail space, will include a restaurant, office space as well as a private lounge and bar. The plan calls for 194 units. The rooms will be a mixture of short-term and long-term hotel rooms.