Wework

News about Wework, including commentary and archival articles published in our Articles.
  • August 2024 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office Leases: Manhattan office leasing still has a long way to go. Leasing volume during the first half of 2024 was up 16% year-over-year. Even if leasing volume continues at the same pace for the second half of the year, it would still be about one-third below 2019. This past quarter, the Plaza District led leasing, accounting for more than 30% of Manhattan’s leasing volume. The flex office industry leased almost half a million square feet in Manhattan during the highest quarterly volume in the industry since 2019. Certain Midtown corridors are faring better than others. On Park Avenue, for …

  • August 2024 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: Red Apple Real Estate obtained a $57 million construction financing for a 12-story mixed-use project in Chelsea at 280 Eighth Avenue. The 100,000 square-foot building will include 104 residential units, a community space and ground-floor retail. Blackstone signed a deal to expand its headquarters at Rudin's 345 Park Avenue for over 1 million SF. Ares Management expanded its headquarters at 245 Park by more than 130,000 SF to 307,000 SF and JPMorgan Chase reached a deal, in a joint venture with Hines, to acquire 250 Park for more than $300 million. JPMorgan construction crews are building the bank's …

  • June 2024 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office: Leasing volume was up in Manhattan in May, with 3M SF of office although below the 3.6M SF monthly average in 2019. Bloomberg leased nearly 1M SF renewal 731 Lexington and will stay until 2040 in the same footprint. American Eagle’s leased 338,000-square-foot lease at 63 Madison Avenue. Bain & Company signed a 235,000 square feet across four floors at 22 Vanderbilt . The asking rent varied by floor, between $105 and $120 per square foot. Palantir’s 140,000 square-foot renewal at 620 Sixth Avenue . 126K SF lease signed by The Trade Desk 1114 Sixth Avenue. TD Bank’s 80,000 …

  • June 2024 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: New York City’s Conversion Accelerator Program has received interest from 64 office landlords seeking to convert their office properties to housing. Four buildings that have already been converted or begun construction through the accelerator, creating about 2,100 apartments. 650 First Avenue and 980 Sixth Avenue have received permits to begin renovations for reuse. The accelerator, announced in August, assists developers in navigating city laws and bureaucracy to expedite complex conversion projects. Coupled with Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to rezone Midtown, the initiative's aim is to create 20,000 apartments from underutilized office stock over the next decade. City Planning …

  • May 2024 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office: The chief executive of Manhattan’s second-largest landlord bemoaned free rent and tenant allowances as a “killer.” Vornado needs to commit as much as $300 per square foot on concessions to secure companies as tenants for more than $40 per square foot over 10-year deals. The weighted average rent of Vornado’s Manhattan office buildings is $100 per square foot. Demand for the best office buildings in New York has not only recovered but it’s causing a spillover effect. Large tenants that have lease terminations over the next several years are racing to snap up space while it’s hot in trophy …

  • March 2024 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office: Office values are down 25% year-over-year through December. With the rise of remote working and other economic conditions, there’s no guarantee those values will ever reach previous levels again. Office owners are showing more willingness to sell properties at a discount. As declining occupancy rates and higher interest rates have driven down values on buildings, some of which were bought at previous market cycle peaks. High interest rates have discouraged dealmakers, while office values have fallen by billions (maybe trillions) of dollars thanks to remote work. Peel back a few layers and things might not be quite so dire, …

  • February 2024 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Retail: Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse renewal for 25,000 SF restaurant at 1121 Sixth Avenue. Madewell signed a 10-year lease to consolidate its two Brooklyn stores along North 6th Street in Williamsburg for 8,300 sf. Barnea Bistro signed a 15-year lease at 114 West 47th Street in Times Square for 7,602 sf. Max Deals, the home goods retailer, signed a 20-year lease at the base of a new residential construction located at 1049 Ogden Avenue in Highbridge for 5,800 sf. TFogo de Chão, the Brazilian steakhouse, signed a new lease in the Oculus mall at 3 World Trade Center in …

  • January 2024 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office: Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison leased 765,000 sf at 1345 Sixth Avenue for 20-years. WeWork and the landlord agreed to modify its lease for a shorter term at a lower rent to keep its 300,000 SF lease at 1440 Broadway. HPS Investment Partners’ signed a renewal and expansion for 159,000 SF at 40 W. 57th Street. Verizon recently listed 143,000 square feet for sublease at 155 Delancey Street. Ralph Lauren signed an 11-year renewal for 133,000 SF headquarters at 650 Madison Avenue, shrinking its footprint by 39%. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan signed a 132,000 SF lease at …

  • December 2023 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office: Large office owners such as Blackstone, Brookfield, and RXR have already handed lenders the keys to some office buildings, figuring they are worth less than their debt. A $670 million loan on RXR’s 230 Park Avenue also known as the Helmsley Building is set to mature on Dec. 8. The mortgage was sent to special servicing and the landlord is facing “imminent maturity default.” RXR is working to restructure the loan. Scott Rechler’s firm purchased the 35-story, 1.4 million-square-foot landmarked property for $1.2 billion in 2015. It took out a $785 million acquisition loan from American International Group for …

  • December 2023 New York Buildings For Sale
  • Buildings for Sale: 222 Broadway is for sale. The owner is hoping for a price between $150 million and $200 million. The office portion of the 780,000-square-foot building is only 31% occupied after Bank of America. WeWork also leased a large portion of the space, and the location is part of the company’s bankruptcy. The property is said to be a “blank canvas opportunity for an investor to either re-lease the building as office, or convert some or all of the building to residential,”eyeing a price of somewhere between $150 million and $200 million. Disney is looking to sell UWS …

  • November 2023 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office: Office leasing in activity jumped 26% from the second quarter to the third. But much of that was upheld by two large leases and availability remained at record highs. Finding office tenants has been a slog for Manhattan landlords. Midtown and Midtown South have improved as “flight to quality” companies upgrading to better Class A space. Midtown South’s availability hit a new all-time high with an 18.6% jump. One of New York City’s prominent real estate law firms is going out of business, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. Their demise is a blow to New York’s real estate industry. …

  • October 2023 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office: Shorenstein falls behind on payments on its office tower at 1407 Broadway and is 30 days delinquent on the $350 million mortgage. Moody’s downgraded a security holding the mortgage at Columbia Property Trust’s 245-249 West 17th Street in Chelsea. The 281,000-square-foot building’s largest tenant is X, which occupies 76% of the space. Columbia was acquired by PIMCO two years ago for $3.9 billion. Musk stopped paying rent at X offices across the country when he bought the social media giant 11 months ago. For office developers to double down on new projects, they’ll need to command approximately double the …

  • September 2023 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office: New York City’s office demand index increased by 7.4% year-over-year. Office occupancy will increase to 55% to 65% by year-end and likely set a post-pandemic record. On the most popular midweek days it could trend over 80%. Office leasing has begun to rebound. Gross leasing volume is up 11.6% from this time last year, the fastest growth rate since mid-2021. New York’s office market remains challenged, as a result of the work-from-home policies that became popular during the pandemic lockdown. The office occupancy rate was just 48% the week of July 26th. Office landlords will take lease renewals over …

  • December 2022 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office: Jay Suites signed a 60,000-square-foot lease in Chelsea at 159 West 25th Street at $30 per square foot. WeWork will close another 40 locations, or about 41,000 desks. 71% of WeWork’s locations are occupied. David Zwirner Gallery signed a 36,000-square-foot lease at 520 West 20th Street. Retail: Annual rents for Upper Fifth Avenue stores averaged $2,000 per square foot, up 14% from pre-pandemic levels. and remain 6% below pre-pandemic levels. Retail availability dropped nearly a full percentage point year-over-year to 5% last quarter. It was the lowest level of availability. New York City is pushing for even more shopping …

  • July 2022 New York Buildings For Sale
  • Buildings for Sale: Industrial real estate investment volume rose by 31% year-over-year to $1.8 billion. This followed a record-setting fourth quarter of 2021, during which investment volume doubled year-over-year to $5.2 billion and nearly a third of the year’s transactions were completed. The tri-state area had a record $10.6 billion in industrial real estate deals last year, a 64% increase from the previous year. New York City had almost $3.6 billion in industrial real estate investment volume last year, with Queens experiencing a nearly 50% year-over-year increase to nearly $1.5 billion. RXR and the Blackstone Group are marketing 1330 Sixth …

  • March 2022 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office: Tech companies leased 76% more space year-over-year in the last three quarters of 2021. Santander Bank is relocating its headquarters to WeWork and subletting 160,000 square feet at 437 Madison Avenue. Hermès inked a lease at 550 Madison Avenue. The brand signed a three-floor, 71,757-square-foot lease relocating from 55 East 59th Street. Mutual of America Financial Group signed a lease for 252,000 square feet it already occupies. A year before the company brought in a joint venture partner to co-own the 766,000-square-foot property. First Service Residential took 48,000 square feet at the Midtown building across the ninth and 10th …

  • October 2021 New York New Developments
  • New Developments 2 World Trade Center is looking for an anchor tenant, which would be required for a construction loan. Norman Foster of Foster + Partners would serve as the architect on the project. Landlords are ready to fight over whether the city should regulate retail and office rents. The City Council’s Committee on Small Business is planning a hearing on a bill to create a rent guidelines board that would limit rent increases on small commercial spaces. The board would have jurisdiction over small retail and office spaces, up to 10,000 square feet, as well as manufacturing establishments up …

  • September 2021 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Retail: In January 2020, Fendi and Berluti inked leases at 595 Madison Avenue after Coach left. Hermes, Giorgio Armani and Brunello Cucinelli are also planting a flag in or increasing their footprints in the area. Toys ‘R’ Us is planning a large-scale comeback with the help of retailer Macy’s. Toys ‘R’ Us is set to bring more than 400 shops within Macy’s department stores, across the country, starting next year. Madison Avenue retail from 57th Street to 72nd Street is only seeing 71% of its 2019-foot traffic. Upper Fifth Avenue is at 92% of its 2019 levels. Soho foot traffic …

  • July 2021 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office: In the depth of the pandemic last year, a majority of New York City office tenants facing lease expirations did not want to commit to a long-term deal. Instead, they opted for shorter extensions. The number of short-term renewals, a deal shorter than five years, was up 46% in 2020 compared to the year before. Almost 20% of Manhattan office space is up for rent, up to about 80 million square feet of space either unrented or for sublet. About a third of commercial leases are to expire in the next three years. Only a fifth of workers are …

  • June 2021 New York Buildings For Sale
  • Buildings for Sale: A Williamsburg assemblage once slated for an office and retail development is on the market for $65 million. The parcel at 87 Wythe Avenue is a combination of a 37,000-square-foot renovated retail space and 22,400 square feet of vacant land, which could give way to a 53,000-square-foot building. Billionaire investor Ron Burkle and hotelier Andrew Zobler, the owners of the NoMad Hotelare, are facing a foreclosure on their equity in the hotel at 1170 Broadway. This is the second time that Burkle and Zobler have faced foreclosure on the property, which they control via a ground lease. …

  • March 2021 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Manhattan Office: Office subleases increased to 29 million square feet, well over the 27 million square feet recorded during the financial crisis in 2009. The office availability rate rose for the eighth consecutive month to a record-high of 14.9%, up 0.6% points from the previous month of 4.9 points from a year ago. Leasing volume was 1.9 million square feet, but still 47% below the pre-pandemic monthly average. The average asking rent declined for the seventh consecutive month to $73.65 per square foot per year, the lowest average since April 2018. Only about 14-15% of employees were in their New …

  • February 2021 New York New Developments
  • New York New Developments Real estate leaders in New York have admitted that there’s a long road ahead before things return to normal or a new normal. WeWork recently exited four locations in Midtown, Soho and the Meatpacking District. Knotel declared bankruptcy. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pushing a plan to get employees back in office buildings and office landlords are on board. Cuomo announced that rapid testing would be used in state-designated orange zones to open office buildings, along with restaurants and theaters. He said that major commercial operators with space totaling more than 100 million square feet have already …

  • January 2021 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Manhattan Office: Breather, the flexible office provider, is to close all of its locations, totaling more than 400 across the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Deutsche Bank could move up to half of its Manhattan employees to smaller U.S. hubs in the next five years, as it plans a major building downsize. The potential move could be another blow to Manhattan’s hobbled office real estate market. Deutsche is in the process of relocating from its 1.6-million-square-foot office at 60 Wall Street to a 1-million-square-foot building at Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. The new location has workspaces for 4,200 people, …

  • December 2020 New York New Developments
  • New York New Developments The planned redevelopment of the Grand Hyatt Hotel could consist of a supertall tower rising more than 1,600 feet. The development at 109 East 42nd Street is tentatively called the Project Commodore. The proposed building would have 2.1 million square feet of office space, a 500-room hotel, around 10,000 square feet of open-air public space with 43,370 square feet of retail. Vornado Realty Trust has suspended its efforts to sell two office towers that it co-owns with the Trump Organization. They had been looking for a buyer for its 70% stake in the buildings, located at …

  • November 2020 New York New Developments
  • New York New Developments Tourism in NYC has fallen by 80% and nearly 9 in 10 office employees are still working remotely. The New York City Employees’ Retirement System ramped up its exposure only to see it underperform the stock market by $260 million and rack up at least $110 million in fees between 2016 and 2019. The pandemic has shaved $16 billion off projected construction spending in 2020 and 2021. The New York Building Congress estimates spending will reach $55.5 billion this year, down from the $65.9 billion previously forecasted. Next year, spending will be just about flat at …

  • October 2020 New York New Developments
  • New York New Developments Vacant office and retail space will have a domino effect on the city’s budget and economy. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority faces a $12 billion budget deficit by 2021. The low office numbers have also led to a projected $9 billion drop in sales tax and other revenues. About 24,000 New Yorkers have lost their lives to the coronavirus. The unemployment rate is 16% and just 10% of workers have returned to the office by September. Personal income tax revenue may drop by $2 billion this fiscal year. Only a third of hotel rooms are occupied, and …

  • September 2020 New York New Developments
  • New York New Developments The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to cut service by 40% if Washington does not send $12 billion in federal aid, crippling the city’s chances to come back from the pandemic. The timeline for the overhaul of John F. Kennedy International Airport will likely be pushed back years because of plummeting passenger demand. Passenger volume is down 85%, and officials warn that passenger numbers might not match last year’s level of nearly 62 million passengers until 2023. July was the slowest month of the year for large construction applications. The total size of the 10 biggest projects …

  • July 2020 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Manhattan office leasing in the second quarter of 2020 totalled just 3.18 million square feet, ½ the previous quarter and down 72% from the previous year and the slowest quarter for office leasing since 2009. Manhattan’s overall availability increased 0.4% points to 10.6%, the highest since early 2015. Manhattan’s asking rent average slightly decreased. Subleases have remained constant. Office leasing activity in April (1.35 million square feet) and May (1.42 million), in June, it was remaining at 410,000 square feet . Midtown Office 1.88 million square feet in leasing activity in the quarter, down 52% year-over-year. The largest lease was …

  • July 2020 New York New Developments
  • New York New Developments WeWork is considering ditching its co-living business and is working with an adviser on options to hand over operations of its two communal living locations in New York City and outside Washington, D.C. Topshop shuttered its 608 Fifth Avenue store and Vornado Realty Trust has turned over control of the property at 608 Fifth Avenue to the Korein family, which owns the ground under the building. City Council members are fighting Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed cuts to the city’s capital budget, saying it will mean a loss of 21,000 affordable apartments over the next few …

  • June 2020 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office Office leasing was virtually dead, except for TikTok who just rented 232,000 at 4 Times Square. A few landlords have lowered prices. Many are taking a wait and see attitude until Tenants return to work and the dust has settled. Retail The brick and mortar apocalypse keeps getting worse, as more national chains declare bankruptcy or announce store closings. Mom and pop retail is faring far worse with many lacking reserves to stay in business. Restaurants will hurt even more, once they partially open and have to pay full rent. Sales Building sales were very very slow with only …

  • June 2020 New York Buildings For Sale
  • Buildings Sold: The volume of commercial real estate deals fell to the lowest level in a decade. Deal volume totaled $11 billion, a 71% year-over-year drop. The number of deals, meanwhile, has fallen an average of 36% since January, but saw a drop of 61% between March and April. Although some property types fared better than others, not one ended the month on a high note. Hotel sales descended to $5.1 billion, their lowest level since RCA started recording transactions. The office and industrial sectors performed the “best,” but each still notched a 60% drop in transactions. Shulamit Prager’s Opal …

  • May 2020 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Manhattan Office Office Leasing in April was near zero with brokers unable to show, so the only deal done were started long ago. March was dead quiet and all showings stopped in Mid March. February leaving numbers showed a 41% drop in month-over-month leasing volume compared to January, across all three Manhattan sub-markets. Leasing volume for the quarter totaled 6.82 million square feet, the fewest since the third quarter of 2013. Office leasing in Manhattan ended the first quarter of 2020 on a low note, with the coronavirus pandemic putting a damper on all types of economic activity. Manhattan Retail: …

  • April 2020 New York New Developments
  • New York New Developments Gov. Andrew Cuomo barred all employees of non-essential businesses from reporting to work, and laid out what amounts to shelter-in-place rules for New Yorkers, though he avoided the phrase. The order exempts food businesses and others deemed essential. After saying he will halt all residential and commercial evictions for 90 days, Cuomo noted that landlords would have a hard time renting out vacant apartments anyway, and real estate agents can’t show apartments under the new workforce rules. About $20 billion in retail property loans are coming due, and it’s unclear how much of that debt will …

  • April 2020 New York Buildings For Sale
  • Buildings for Sale: Four years after receiving approval to build a 26-story, 310-key hotel at 1150 Sixth Avenue, developer Morris Moinian has decided to sell the vacant site instead. The midblock site is between West 44th and West 45th streets. It is a great development site with approved plans to build a hotel there, which a new owner could use or not. Brookfield Property Partners and Blackstone Group are reportedly in talks about a possible sale of One Liberty Plaza, a 2.3 million-square-foot office tower in the Financial District. Barneys has put its downtown Manhattan property at 101 Seventh Avenue …

  • March 2020 New York Buildings For Sale
  • Buildings for Sale: 2 Grand Central Tower was built in the 1980s and is for sale. Rockwood Capital is the seller of the 44-story building. They are expecting to sell for $580 million or about $850/RSF. CBS is looking to sell 51 West 52nd Street for more than $1 billion for its nicknamed Black Rock. The broadcaster, which merged with Viacom late last year in a $25 billion deal, announced that the company would look to sell the building. Amazon has been in talks to acquire the Lord & Taylor building from WeWork. The deal could be valued close to …

  • February 2020 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: Amazon leased a warehouse in Staten Island containing 450,000 square feet next to the 855,000-square-foot distribution center in 2017. The new warehouse will focus on last-mile deliveries. Gulliver’s Gate, the miniature-landscapes attraction finally closed its location at 229 West 43rd Street. The two-and-a-half year old company filed for bankruptcy with a plan to restructure its business, which reportedly struggled under the weight of its $5.7 million annual rent. Uncommon Schools signed a deal to take around 42,000 square feet at Rudin Management’s 55 Broad Street. The 15-year lease covers the second and third floors at the 30-story tower. …

  • January 2020 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: New York City’s hotel inventory includes 113 new developments to open in the next few years, with just over half located outside Manhattan. New York’s hotel inventory will reach 144,000 rooms by the end of 2021 up 65% from the 87,000 rooms the city had in 2010. Chang has filed plans for his biggest hotel yet. The 34-story, 974-room development at 150 West 48th Street. Michael Bloomberg is moving his presidential campaign headquarters from the Upper East Side to Times Square. The new headquarters are located at 229 West 43rd Street, 8th floor. New York City will end …

  • December 2019 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: Tourism in New York City continues to rise but the Times Square submarket retail market has declined in retail pricing. Macy’s same store sales fell 3.9% at stores open for the last year. Target’s physical stores and online shop saw a 4.5% bump, with a 10% increase in clothing sales. The EB-5 program’s new federal regulations are in effect, and will double the minimum dollar amount that all foreign visa-seekers must put into development projects. Under the new regulations, investors must contribute $900,000 from the previous $500,000 for a project in a low employment zone. The investment amount …

  • November 2019 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Office leasing volume from the top 10 leases was 820,500 square feet. With half of them coming from WeWork, who will be out of the market for a while if at all. Other big tenants include law firms, branding agencies and Knotel. Manhattan Retail: Retail leasing for gyms and restaurants were among the largest deals. The top was Ikea’s first Queens location. Manhattan Sales: Manhattan investment sales hit a two-year low with $995 million in deals recorded, 52% down from June and 59% below the 12-month average. The borough’s largest deal was Savanna’s $180 million buy of 360 Lexington Avenue …

  • November 2019 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: Barneys has been sold to Authentic Brands Group and B. Riley for around $270 million. The new owners will likely shut Barneys’ locations, including its 275,000-square-foot flagship property at 660 Madison Avenue. IBM is looking for 500,000 square feet to consolidate its New York office space from multiple locations including a WeWork. IBM’s lease at WeWork’s 88 University runs through 2024. Vornado Realty Trust has encountered more retail challenges as Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy protection. However, Forever 21 may be able to keep its stores at 435 Seventh Avenue and 1540 Broadway open for a bit longer. …

  • October 2019 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Market Overview: Leasing was slow last month with the top 10 leases comprising only of 464,100 versus last month total of 2.9 million square feet. The total is also down year-over-year. The top 10 office leasing deals of August 2018 totaled about 1.3 million square feet. EisnerAmper inked a 15-year lease for 125,000 square feet of space at 733 Third Avenue, The landlord is the Durst Organization. New York Times signed a 15-year lease for 57,846 square feet of space at 24-01 44th Road. The landlord is United Nations Federal Credit Union. WeWork firm inked a 15-year lease for 56,000 …

  • October 2019 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: WeWork is pulled its public offering. Neumann’s was removed as CEO from Wework. The reported value plummeted at least two-thirds from its once $47 billion. 20 people aligned with the former CEO Adam Neumann are leaving the company.WeWork’s parent company bought 14 venture-backed startups since 2014. The We Company is now trying to shed some of those acquisitions, many of which were purchased with stocks leaving some investors feeling stuck. Banks seek to revise Adam Neumann’s $500 million credit line. Following a cool reception from investors over his company’s valuation, lenders are looking to revise the terms of …

  • September 2019 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: Signs of an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China caused real estate stocks to dip but then largely performed well compared to the overall market. Nuveen is joining Taconic Investment Partners on its $230 million purchase of a portion of ABC campus on the Upper West Side. The new owners plan to convert one of the properties, an office building at 125 West End Avenue, into space for life science tenants. No plans are clear for the other two properties: studio space at 320 West 66th Street and a property known as Lot 61. WeWork has …

  • August 2019 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Manhattan leasing activity which includes both renewals and new leases totaled 20.26 million square feet. The first half of 2019 saw 15% less activity than the second half of 2018, but this was still 12.2% above the five year average. Asking rents continued to rise to record highs, with an average of $77.82 across Manhattan and $84.51 in Midtown in large part to a boom in Downtown. Office leasing in Midtown South was flat year-over-year with 7.02 million square feet in total volume. TAMI tenants were on top here with 54% of total activity from WarnerMedia’s 1.3 million-square-foot sale-leaseback deal …

  • August 2019 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: Several New York landlords have resisted leasing large chunks of their buildings to co-working tenants. One prominent owner is Empire State Realty Trust who will not lease to WeWork. The Durst Organization rejected WeWork’s offer to lease 12 floors at the World Trade Center in hopes that there were better offers. Oscar Health is doubling it spaced in Hudson Square and signed a sublease for the fourth floor at One Hudson Square, bringing its total presence to 160,000 square feet. The asking rent was around $80 per square foot. Barneys luxury fashion is reportedly weighing a second bankruptcy, …

  • July 2019 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: The top office leases made up more square footage than last month. The top 10 totaled 1.7 million square feet, up from 1.5 million square feet the previous month. EmblemHealth renewed its 15-year lease for 440,000 square feet of space at 55 Water Street. The landlord is the Retirement Systems of Alabama. New York City Human Resources Administration renewed its 10-year lease for 342,496 square feet of space at 250 Livingston Street. The Department of Environmental Protection will also occupy the entire eighth floor as part of the lease. The landlord is Clipper Equity. Colgate-Palmolive Company renewed its …

  • June 2019 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: The City Council approved the new headquarters for JPMorgan, the first project to take advantage of New York’s Midtown East rezoning. JPMorgan will stay and rebuild its global headquarters at 1,400 feet and 70 stories tall, and will allow the company to consolidate employees who now work out of multiple different locations. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is moving ahead with plans to replace the bus terminal. The agency is moving forward with the formal environmental review process and released a document for public review. Blumenfeld Development Group has received a $235 million refinancing …

  • May 2019 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: Financial services accounted for 39% of the leasing activity, of which 13% was leased by co-working companies. Coworking had accounted for 12% of leasing volume last year and 5% in 2017. TAMI followed with 16% of leasing volume in the first quarter. There were six Midtown deals over 100,000 square feet. Sumitomo’s 266,000 square foot renewal and expansion at 277 Park Avenue and the Bank of Montreal’s 215,000 square foot relocation to 151 West 42nd Street. Job growth in New York City increased by 1.8% with 68,700 jobs added by the private sector from 2018 to 2019. The …

  • April 2019 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: Gyms and athletic wear retailers once again dominated the retail leasing scene last month in New York City, securing four of the top 10 biggest deals. The rest mostly comprised of restaurants. The biggest retail lease deals signed last month totaled 188,100 square feet, down 41,600 square feet from January’s total of 229,700 square feet. In February of 2018, the top 10 retail leases totaled 108,200 square feet. Hermès of Paris inked a lease for 40,000 square feet of space at 706 Madison Avenue for a new flagship location. The building’s landlord is Friedland Properties. Brooklyn Boulders signed …

  • February 2019 New York New Developments
  • The top 10 office lease deals totaled 2.65 million square feet, up more than 885,000 RSF more than the previous months top 10 leases. Deutsche Bank is set to take over 1.1 million square feet of office space at 10 Columbus Circle and will leave 60 Wall Street. Millennium Management signed a lease for 300,000 square feet of space at 399 Park Avenue, relocating from 666 Fifth Avenue. Asking rents are between $73 and $90 per square foot. WeWork signed a lease for 236,000 square feet of space across seven floors at 1440 Broadway, where it will have its own …

  • January 2019 New York New Developments
  • NYC Major Developments: Overall, November’s top office leases outpaced October’s top office leases. The 10 biggest deals signed last month totaled 1.8 million square feet, up 400,000 square feet from October’s total of 1.4 million square feet. The largest office lease in November was signed in Grand Central. Bloomberg LP renewed its 11-year lease for 468,000 square feet of space at 120 Park Avenue. Ralph Lauren expanded its lease for 350,000 square feet of space at 601 West 26th Street. RXR Realty refinanced the property with a $900 million loan from New York Community Bank. Peloton signed a lease for …

  • December 2018 New York New Developments
  • Major Developments: After months of speculation, Amazon made its long-awaited HQ2 announcement. The Seattle-based company will divide its second headquarters between Crystal City in Virginia and Long Island City in New York. New York State plans to dole out $1.7 billion in tax credits and grants to Amazon for choosing Long Island City. This month’s top office leases accounted for more square footage than last month. The top 10 office lease deals last month totaled 1.9 million square feet, larger than September’s top 10 leases, which totaled 1.1 million square feet. City of New York signed the largest lease of …

  • November 2018 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Manhattan Office leasing: Strong Manhattan office leasing demand decreased supply by 820,000 RSF despite new construction coming along, an impressive feat. In the first nine months, more than 29 million square feet worth of new office leases and renewals were completed. Office leasing in Midtown has hit a 12-year high. During the third quarter specifically, there were 4.4 million square feet worth of deals signed. The average asking rent was $78.41 per square foot. The tech sector leased 1 million square feet for the ninth consecutive year. Over the past two years, the tech center increased hiring by 12.4%. Asking …

  • November 2018 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: L&L; Holding Company and Normandy Real Estate Partners are trying to upgrade the Terminal Stores warehouse in West Chelsea into a $1.8 billion property in four years. They plan to spend an additional $220 million to renovate the property which will need approvals from the city Landmarks Preservation Commission, call for the creation of 100,000 square feet of glass penthouse space on top of the building. The project’s setup is estimating rents of $135 per square foot for the penthouse office space. New York City hotel developers are about to lose nearly half of the land …

  • October 2018 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: The number of extended-stay luxury hotel rooms are on the rise, increasing to 34% over the past five years. Occupancy rates are coming back higher than typical rooms at an encouraging 77%. Amazon 4-Star opened in Soho at 72 Spring Street and is similar to Amazon Books, but will sell a range of products, all of which must have a rating of at least 4 stars by Amazon customers. Women-only meeting space provider Luminary is opening its first location in NoMad. The company signed a 15,000-square-foot lease at 1204 Broadway. The 12-year deal spans the third …

  • September 2018 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: Manhattan dominated the list of New York City’s top 10 largest real estate projects in July. Marx Development Group’s roughly 213,000-square-foot hotel and retail project at 450 11th Avenue in Hudson Yards. Covenant House is planning a 12-story, 60-unit building in Hudson Yards about 53,000 square feet. Its new project would replace a smaller eight-story youth homeless shelter currently on the site of 460 West 41st Street. 323 East 61st Street from the William Macklowe Company will span about 50,000 square feet and stand six stories and 74 feet tall. WeWork just signed a 258,344-square-foot lease …

  • August 2018 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: New York City’s hotel market had a better-than-expected first quarter in 2018, with revenue per available room growing 7.4%. Warehouse space is at its tightest level since the first dot-com boom, and it’s driving business. The second quarter saw availability fall to 7.2%, the lowest level since 2000, as demand continues to outpace supply. Hotel and condominium developer Lightstone Group plans to build a fourth Moxy Hotel in Manhattan at the site of a lighting store in the Bowery. Lightstone is in contract to acquire the building at 151 Bowery from Emmut Properties. Chinese insurers, conglomerates …

  • July 2018 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: The top 10 office lease deals totaled 2.4 million square feet, larger than last month’s top 10 leases, which totaled 1.9 million square feet. 1) Deutsche Bank signed a lease for 1,100,000 square feet of office space at 1 Columbus Circle. 2) Facebook signed a lease for 370,000 square feet of office space at 770 Broadway. 3) McKinsey & Co. signed a lease for 186,000 square feet of office space at 3 World Trade Center. 4) Blank Rome signed a lease for 138,000 square feet at 1271 Sixth Avenue. The firm is taking the 15th, 16th …

  • June 2018 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: The top 10 office leases totaled 1.9 million square feet, much larger than the previous month’s top 10 leases, which totaled 996,000 square feet. Pfizer signed a lease for 800,000 square feet of office space at 66 Hudson Boulevard. Latham & Watkins signed a lease for the 25th through the 34th floors, totaling for 407,000 square feet at 1271 Sixth Avenue. Jet.com inked a lease for 200,000 square feet of warehouse space at 1055 Bronx River Avenue. The asking rent was $22.00 per square foot. McDermott Will & Emery signed a 20-year lease for around 106,000 …

  • May 2018 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: 666 Fifth Avenue announced that the tower lost $25 million in 2017, largely due to the debt service on the property outweighing its net income. Chinese developer Zhonghong Holdings has defaulted on more than $174 million debt, just one year after the company tried to buy a senior living facility chain. Brookdale Senior Living for $4 billion. Co-working companies have stepped up their game in New York City, increasingly competing with traditional commercial landlords for the same tenants. Sixteen co-working companies have leased 664,000 square feet in the city so far in 2018. Brookfield Property Partners …

  • April 2018 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: An Upper East Side retail site that has been vacant for more than two years will soon be Morton Williams. A curated version of the supermarket is coming to 1251 Third Avenue, the former site of a Talbot’s. The grocery store chain has taken 13,000 square feet across two floors, with an asking rent of $2 million per year. Chinese investment in the United States’ commercial real estate has plummeted by 55% last year, dropping from $16.2 billion in 2016 to $7.3 billion in 2017. Purplebricks, a London-based discount brokerage, received $177 million equity investment from …

  • February 2018 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: The supply of hotel rooms in the Financial District grew 10.7% last year, with another 1,917 rooms in the pipeline. Hotels continue to be built despite the softening of the overall hotel market. There are more hotel rooms slated to come online in 2018 than any year since, at least 2000. Developers have already delivered 26,193 rooms since 2013. Kushner Companies’ retail condominium at the old New York Times building could be facing challenges in the wake of Guy Fieri’s restaurant closing. Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar, a yet-to-be opened food hall run by celebrity chef …

  • January 2018 New York New Developments
  • Co-working is coming for two of the country’s leading office building owners. Blackstone Group-owned Equity Office and Houston-based Hineshave both released RFPs looking for partners to help them gain experience in the co-working business currently dominated by WeWork. Equity Office is particularly interested in figuring out how to make tenants more interested in their Howard Hughes office complex in Los Angeles, and the company expects responses to their RFP in the next few days. WeWork has lately been seeing explosive growth and is currently valued at $20 billion. The firm has launched a gym and elementary school in recent months …

  • December 2017 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: Retailers south of 96th Street that pay more than $250,000 per year in rent also pay a tax on that rent. A new bill would raise the threshold to $500,000, meaning about 2,000 business would escape the tax. London-based rhubarb, a major hospitality company in England, plans to open new restaurants at 30 Hudson Yards and at the Hudson Yards Shops & Restaurants. The restaurant at the mall will contain 5,800 square feet on the fifth floor. At 30 Hudson Yards, rhubarb plans to open a 10,000-square-foot restaurant on the 92nd floor. Soho Properties, in partnership …

  • December 2017 New York Buildings For Sale
  • New York Buildings For Sale: Isaac Chetrit is looking to sell off a pair of office buildings. Chetrit and partner Sioni Group are asking around $190 million and $200 million for the properties at 15 West 47th Street and 22 West 48th Street. Brookfield Property Partners is looking to sell its 2.3 million-square-foot office tower at One Liberty Plaza in Lower Manhattan, which could trade for as much as $1.6 billion. Offers on the Park Lane Hotel were due, but no buyers showed up willing to pay the $1 billion the property was expected to obtain. The 47-story hotel overlooking …

  • November 2017 New York Buildings For Sale
  • Buildings For Sale: HSBC and Edge Fund Advisors put a 48% stake in the office portion of 1540 Broadway on the market, hoping to get around $445 million. Brookfield Property Partners is looking to sell its 2.3 million-square-foot office tower at One Liberty Plaza and could go for as much as $1.6 billion which works out to $695 per square foot. Brookfield is open to selling the entire tower or a partial stake. RFR Realty is looking to sell the 38,000-square-foot commercial condominium at the base of the Park Avenue Place of 60 East 55th Street, which RFR developed in …

  • September 2017 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: Brookfield Property Partners are in talks to become a partner in one of the largest redevelopment projects underway in New York City. Brookfield is negotiating to acquire a stake in the St. John’s Terminal site, which Westbrook Partners and Atlas Capital Partners are planning to transform into a five-tower, 1.7 million-square-foot mixed-use complex. The three-block-long site which consists of north, south and center sections would hold 1,586 rental apartments, offices, a hotel and around 400,000 square feet of retail space next to Hudson River Park’s Pier 40. Manhattan’s hotel market may be nearing the end of …

  • August 2017 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: Starwood Mortgage Capital provided a $105 million loan for Aurora Capital Associates and William Gottlieb Real Estate’s Restoration Hardware project in the Meatpacking District. The 10-year loan retires a $60 million loan from Wells Fargo. Aurora and Gottlieb are building a 60,000-square-foot retail project at 9-19 Ninth Avenue, where Restoration Hardware signed a 15-year lease worth $250 million. Northern Manhattan’s commercial real estate market was sluggish. A total of 138 properties sold in 154 deals for a total dollar volume of $694 million uptown, down 64% year-over-year. The average price per buildable square foot at development …

  • March 2017 New York New Developments
  • New York Major Developments: The city is taking another attempt at rezoning the Garment District, a move that will likely rollback rules that require landlords to lease a portion of their building to the fashion industry. The possible rezoning is connected to the Mayor’s plans to build a new manufacturing campus in Brooklyn. The Bloomberg administration tried to rezone the Garment District in 2009, but stopped the plan due to opposition. In the fourth quarter of 2016, absorption rate was negative in all three Manhattan office submarkets: Downtown, Midtown, and Midtown South for a total net absorption of negative 277,988 …

  • March 2016: New York New Developments
  • New Developments Joseph Beninati's Bauhouse Group filed Friday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the LLC entity that owns the 3 Sutton Place development site in Midtown. There is an upcoming foreclosure auction by Gamma's who holds more than $180 million in debt on the property at 426-432 East 58th Street. Bauhouse defaulted on nearly $129 million in loans last month that it had received from Gamma, led by Richard Kalikow, for its planned 68-story, Norman Foster-designed condo tower, also known as 3 Sutton Place. The $4 billion World Trade Center Transportation Hub is about to open. It will connect to …

  • January 2016 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • Retail:Retail rents have surged in Times Square, Fifth Avenue and Soho and have exaggerated the strength of the overall retail market. Retail rents on Fifth Avenue in the 50's are as much as $5,500 per square foot for 3,000-square-foot space at 730 Fifth Avenue which is 50 times higher than some spaces a few blocks away. Building Sales There was an astonishing $70 billion in property sales slated for completion by the end of this year, 2015. The $70 billion figure would represent a 12.5 increase from the city's previous record dollar volume in 2007, including a 2.6 billion acquisition …

  • December 2015: New York New Developments
  • New Developments AvalonBay Communities is planning a new 33-story, mixed-use residential tower at the site of the former American Bible Society located in Lincoln Square. The building will house 160 apartments. There will also be 34,000 square feet of retail space on the lower levels.Vornado Realty Trust lauded a third quarter that saw it sign seven Manhattan office leases at asking rents of over $100 per square foot. Vornado completed 43 office leasing deals totaling 509,000 square feet in the third quarter at an average starting rent of $79.80 per square foot. The total year-to-date leasing activity was nearly 1.7 …

  • May 2014 New York Commercial Real Estate Market Report
  • With Manhattan retail rents skyrocketing retailers such as Rizzoli Bookstore and J&R; Music and Computer World have shuttered. Retail tenants are increasingly turning to hybrid models to be profitable. Despite being one of the wealthiest places in the nation and a shopping mecca for 50 million plus tourists, Manhattan still has more vacant retail space than anyone can count. This is caused by Landlord seeking higher rents than tenants can profitably operate. The two emerging centers for tech office tenants in the city are the Manhattan corridor spanning 14th Street through 42nd Street, and Downtown Brooklyn. Tech firms are looking …

  • November 2013: NY New Developments
  • NY New Developments Harlem's rapid development and emergence as a viable tourist and business destination has suddenly led to a spike in the demand for hotels in the area, so much so that the neighborhood is now short of about 1,500 hotel rooms. Even future growth in the hotel industry will not be able to meet demand. Although two hotels are in the works with a 210-room property near the old Victoria Theater on 125th Street and a 230-room property near Columbia University's West Harlem expansion. The Landmarks Preservation Commission has recently voted in favor of the Nordstrom tower cantilever, …

  • October 2013: NYC New Developments
  • NYC New Developments Ace Hotel is converting a 10-story building at 225 Bowery into a hotel, despite earlier plans to turn it into apartments. The Lower East Side building’s owner, the Salvation Army Chinese Community Center, will close within the year. Ace is serving as a silent partner and developer on this and the Jarmulowsky Bank project at 52 Canal Street. That development, from DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners, is slated to be a 12-story, 105-unit hotel, and will be operated by Ace under a different name.Fairway Market is coming to the World Trade Center neighborhood. The market just signed …

  • February 2013: New York City New Developments
  • The Federal Emergency Management Agency gave New Yorkers whose homes were devastated by Hurricane Sandy a 30-day extension on applications for home repairs. The Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, which has helped New Yorkers continue living in participating hotels and motels, will also be extended. Governor Cuomo requested that FEMA grant extensions. Alexander McQueen plans to decamp to 747 Madison Avenue. The designer will lease a double-height 3,300-square-foot space owned by Jeff Sutton, paying $1,300 per square foot during the 15-year lease. Fashion label Escada previously took up a portion of the retail space. Before that, Valentino occupied the space during …

  • November 2012 New York Buildings For Sale
  • NYC Buildings For Sale A Flatiron District office building will hit the foreclosure auction block next month with an outstanding lien of close to $41 million, following the issuance of a foreclosure judgment against the property in September. The building, at 119 West 25th Street, had been owned by Brooklyn-based investors Miriam and Michael Chan before it was placed in receivership. The duo purchased the building for $34 million via an LLC in 2006. The 11-story building, which totals 113,000 square feet and has 15,000 square feet of retail, will hit the block November 17.A parking lot in the Chelsea …

  • December 2011 New York Buildings For Sale
  • NYC Buildings For Sale A Times Square Hotel, the 47-room Hotel 41 at 206 West 41st Street, will be auctioned Dec. 5, after lender Crane, A.G., a 50 percent owner of the hotel, filed to foreclose on developer Benjamin Soleimani's interest in the property. The 11,562-square-foot Hotel 41 building, on a side street just below Times Square, was purchased by Soleiman's 206 West 41st Street Hotel Associates in 2008 and underwent a complete transformation by architect Andrew Pollack and Soleimani with ultra-modern interiors. ATCO is selling the Atlas Terminals, an industrial park adjacent to the Atlas Park mall it developed …

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