Tiffany & Company at 727 Fifth Avenue

From the May issue: 1939: Tiffany’s moves to upper Fifth Avenue

In a decision exemplifying the continued uptown march by luxury retailers on Fifth Avenue, famed jewelry store Tiffany & Company announced a deal to relocate 20 blocks north to 727 Fifth Avenue at 57th Street, 74 years ago this month.

At the time, Tiffany’s was located at 401 Fifth Avenue, at 37th Street, an area that was losing its influence as a shopping district. [more]

The former American Folk Art Museum in Midtown (Inset: MoMA Director Glenn Lowry)

The architectural cause célèbre of the past few weeks has surely been the fate of the former American Folk Art Museum, which opened in 2001 and was designed by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. Located at 45 West 53rd Street, the unoccupied building sits on land that the Museum of Modern Art has purchased in order to expand even further toward Sixth Avenue. [more]

238 Madison Avenue

JSR Capital, the Manhattan-based real estate investment firm headed by Africa Israel alumnus Jona Rechnitz, is planning to build a new condominium or hotel project at 238 Madison Avenue, between 37th and 38th streets, The Real Deal has learned.

The company acquired the site, which is currently home to an 11,243-square-foot multifamily townhouse, yesterday for slightly under $12 million, sources said. The building comes with 27,500 square feet of additional air rights, allowing for a new development of close to 40,000 square feet in total. [more]

511-515 West 36th Street

Lalezarian Properties has paid $21.25 million for a commercial loft building in the Hudson Yards Special District, with plans to erect a residential rental development on the site, the New York Observer reported.

The Lake Success, N.Y.-based company intends to raze the existing six-story, 37,929-square-foot structure at 511-515 West 36th Street and build on that lot, as well as adjacent parcels it already owns at 519 and 525 West 36th Street. [more]

465 Lexington Ave. (Source: Google)

Roughly two dozen low-rise buildings, some with residents living inside, are scattered throughout the proposed Midtown East rezoning district, the New York Times reported. While some low-rise buildings in the area are on the list for demolition, some of these “dwarf” buildings may remain, even as developers erect skyscrapers nearby.

“Sometimes you find these quirky holdouts,” Andrew Dolkart, director of the historic preservation program at Columbia University, told the Times. “Somebody doesn’t want to sell these because they’re making a profit, or because it’s been in the family for decades, and how can I sell this property Grandpa assembled?” [more]

Aby Rosen, Michael Fuchs and the Seagram Building

RFR Realty has arranged a roughly $1 billion loan for its 38-story Seagram Building at 375 Park Avenue, Crain’s reported. The financing came from Citibank and Deutsche Bank, according to Crain’s sources, which will be split and sold to investors as commercial mortgage-backed securities. [more]

From left: JDS’ Michael Stern and the Steinway Building and PMG head Kevin Maloney

UPDATED, 11:32 a.m., Mar. 27: Steinway Musical Instruments, the manufacturer behind the classic pianos, has sold its 109 West 57th Street office building to JDS Development, Property Markets Group and Atlantic Investors LLC for $46 million, according to Law360 and a JDS press release. Steinway runs its flagship retail space from the building, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, and under the terms of the sale can operate there rent-free for 14 months after the deal officially closes.

The sale of the building, which has 247,000 leasable square feet, is slated to close in the second quarter.  At that time, Steinway will look for new showroom digs in Manhattan, chairman and CEO Michael Sweeney told Law360 in a statement. He said the search should take a year. [more]

HFZ’s Ziel Feldman and a Halcyon project rendering

HFZ Capital Group’s condominium development in Turtle Bay, once the site of a deadly crane collapse, will be called Halcyon NY and will include a mix of one-bedrooms through four-bedrooms, priced at between $1.5 million and $5 million, Curbed reported.

The building is set to reach 32 stories, with a total of 123 condos, as The Real Deal reported. In 2008, the crane accident killed seven people and damaged nearby buildings, effectively forcing out the original developer. [more]

From left: Howard Michaels and the Lipstick Building

SL Green Realty is selling the land beneath the Lipstick Building in Midtown, the New York Post reported. The commercial landlord has tapped the Carlton Group’s Howard Michaels to handle the marketing.

The land could attract a record-breaking price, as investors are now seeking stable investments in New York City, the Post said. [more]

The Milford Hotel in Times Square (Inset: Todd Henderson)

A partnership between David Werner and Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management’s real estate investment business has bought the leased fee interest in the Milford Hotel in Times Square for about $325 million, Real Estate Weekly reported. The sellers, Rockpoint Group and hotel operator Highgate, bought the entire property in 2010 for about $200 million.

They are planning on selling the remaining two pieces of the property — a retail condominium and the 1,300-room hotel — separately, as previously reported. The deal was an off-market transaction. [more]