April in New York City’s commercial real estate market was defined by another flurry of large office leases, most notably Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton’s 475K SF deal at One Liberty Plaza.
The law firm is already a tenant in Brookfield Properties’ Financial District skyscraper. As part of the 20-year lease renewal, it will be moving into higher, newly redesigned floors.
Brookfield’s One Liberty Plaza
The law firm is the largest tenant in the 2.3M SF tower, where it has been headquartered since 1990.
Known as Cleary Gottlieb, the firm first occupied 450K SF of the 53-story building under a lease that was due to expire in 2010. In 2007, it renewed that lease and expanded by 100K SF, the New York Post reported at the time.
That means that despite recommitting to the building, Cleary Gottlieb will be downsizing.
A spokesperson for Cleary Gottlieb told the Commercial Observer the space will “accommodate our growth and provide a welcoming environment for Cleary lawyers, professional staff and clients.”
“We’re excited to be creating a 21st century workplace within this historic location,” the spokesperson added.
The lease is the largest deal signed in April, according to a Colliers report, where the deal was first made public.
Cleary Gottlieb was represented by Newmark’s Moshe Sukenik and Brian Cohen and Cushman & Wakefield’s Mark Weiss and Josh Kuriloff. Brookfield was represented in-house by Mikael Nahmias and Dan Roberts.
TOP LEASES
Healthcare platform Tennr has signed a 125K SF sublease at Hudson Square Properties’ 345 Hudson St., according to Colliers’ monthly market report. The tech company will likely relocate from 275 Seventh Ave., where it currently has an office. Hudson Square Properties is a joint venture between Hines, Trinity Church Wall Street and Norges Bank Investment Management.
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Jump Trading is expanding its New York footprint with a 99K SF lease at Related Cos.’ 50 Hudson Yards, according to the Colliers report. The fintech firm originally signed an 11-year lease for approximately 19K SF at 12 E. 26th St. in 2012.
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Also in Midtown South, artificial intelligence firm Sierra took 94K SF at Rockrose Development’s 11 E. 26th St. The company has rapidly expanded over the past year, according to Colliers. In October, it inked a 15K SF lease at 375 W. Broadway for its first New York City office. It was also responsible for the largest lease of the fourth quarter in San Francisco. There, it occupies 258K SF at 185 Berry St.
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Coach is relocating its flagship from 685 Fifth Ave. to 645 Fifth Ave, according to the Commercial Observer. The new store, expected to open in 2027, will be 13.2K SF spread across the lower level and first and second floors. The building, known as Olympic Tower, is owned by a joint venture between OMERS Administration Corp. and Crown Acquisitions. Ownership was represented by Crown Retail Services’ Brittany Bragg, while Coach was represented by Cushman & Wakefield’s Mike O’Neill, Taylor Reynolds and Jason Greenstone.
TOP SALES
RXR sold its development site at 47 Hall St. in Brooklyn for a loss.
YS Developers acquired RXR’s Clinton Hill development site at 47 Hall St. for $121.4M, a $40M discount from its 2016 purchase price. The 2.6-acre property will be delivered vacant and has already received zoning approval for the construction of 650K SF of housing. YS plans to move forward with residential development. A JLL Capital Markets team of Ethan Stanton, Michael Mazzara and Brendan Maddigan arranged the sale.
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Avery Hall Investments, the Brodsky Organization and Monadnock Construction paid $49M for two development sites in Crown Heights, The Real Deal reported. The seller of 962 Pacific St. was Nadine Oelsner, while the seller of 863 Dean St. was Albert Appleton. The developers are expected to build a mixed-use project, as the lots are in the area recently rezoned by the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan.
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Also in the recently rezoned area of Crown Heights, Castell Group and Montgomery Street Partners bought two development sites. The developers plan to build two large-scale, mixed-use residential projects on the adjacent lots at 1029 Dean St. and 1104 Pacific St. The two separate off-market transactions total $25.2M. JLL’s Mike Mazzara, Ethan Stanton and Brendan Maddigan brokered the deal.
TOP FINANCING
Sovereign Partners and HudsonPoint Capital inked a $268M acquisition loan package with Ladder Capital for 575 Fifth Ave., PincusCo reported. The financing was provided in two transactions covering four commercial condominium tax lots. The office and retail properties total nearly 412K SF. Sovereign and HudsonPoint spent $378M on the building in a deal that closed a week before the loan.
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Courtesy of JLL
The Bay Terrace Shopping Center in Queens, New York
Cord Meyer Development secured $150M in financing for Bay Terrace Shopping Center to move forward with upgrades for the property. JLL Capital Markets arranged the loan from New York Life Real Estate Investors. The Bayside, Queens, shopping center, situated at the intersection of 26th Avenue and Bell Boulevard, is 90% leased and anchored by Stop & Shop. Other tenants include HomeGoods, AMC Theatres, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Sephora and LA Fitness.
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Rester Management is refinancing its multifamily development in Harlem with $114M of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-backed debt, the Commercial Observer reports. The loan will replace a $105M bridge loan from Dwight Mortgage Trust and establish a replacement reserve for the property at 224 W. 124th St., which was completed in 2023. Dwight Capital supplied the HUD 223(f) loan.
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Alternative investment management firm Axonic Capital has provided a $72M senior loan to refinance the leasehold interest in 430 Park Ave. The nearly 296K SF Class-A office is owned by a joint venture between Oestreicher Properties, Midwood Investment & Development and Marx Realty. It is 99% leased. The loan was funded through Axonic’s affiliated insurance business.
