From left: Daniel Horowitz and Ira Schuman of Studley

Daniel Horowitz and Ira Schuman of Studley won the Real Estate Board
of New York’s “Ingenious Deal of the Year” first-place award for their
sale of Hunter College’s 127-133 East 79th Street, at a reception last
night at the 101 Club. Second place went to Eric Deutsch and Ken
Meyerson of CB Richard Ellis for their lease to the Gap at 40 Worth
Street, and Cushman & Wakefield’s Michael Rotchford won third place for his sale and
leaseback financing deal at the New York Times Building. Click here for the full list of nominees. [more]

Lower Manhattan’s office market saw declining rents and record-low leasing activity during 2009, but ended the year with activity on the rise and vacancies on a recently-rare downward trend, according to the Alliance for Downtown New York’s Real Estate Market Year in Review for 2009 (click here for the full report). Rising from 7.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 9.9 percent in the third quarter of 2009, office vacancies dropped off to 9.6 percent by the close of the year.

Commercial office tenants in the Downtown market tended to sign on for smaller spaces and shorter terms, according to the report. “Downtown may need to adjust further to compete with low-priced sublease space and precipitously falling rents in the Midtown market,” the report noted.
In the residential market, sales volume dropped 52 percent over 2008, largely on a decline in inventory. Meanwhile, rentals held up relatively well: vacancies in Downtown rental units hovered at around 2 percent, which the report attributed to consistent demand for such inventory. TRD [more]

Avon, the beauty giant which had reportedly been angling for nearly 250,000 square feet at the William Kaufman Organization’s 777 Third Avenue, made the deal official last night after less than three months of negotiations, the Post reported. The 15-year lease on floors two through 11 outsizes all leases signed in 2009, with the exception of the Gap’s move to 40 Worth Street. Sources told the Post that Avon will receive one year of free rent, after which the company will initially pay in the low $40s per square foot. Rent will gradually increase from there to the low $50s per square foot. Avon, which is currently located at 1251 Avenue of the Americas, plans to move to 777 Third Avenue in early 2011. It is keeping its smaller offices at 1345 Sixth Avenue for the time being. Avon’s new digs were previously occupied by Grey Group, an advertising firm that relocated to 200 Fifth Avenue. Peter Riguardi and Frank Doyle of Jones Lang LaSalle and Michael Lenchner of Sage Realty represented the Kaufman Organization in the deal. CB Richard Ellis’ Jon Zuckerman and Leonard DiMicelli with Cushman & Wakefield’s Dale Schlather represented Avon. [Post]

40 Worth Street and 345 Park Avenue (Source: PropertyShark.com)

A retailer and a law firm recently signed the year’s largest and second-largest new long-term leases. Gap signed a 20-year lease for 265,083 square feet at 40 Worth Street, the largest lease of the year so far. The company plans to put all of its New York offices in the space, moving out of 620 Sixth Avenue and 675 Sixth Avenue over the next two years. The asking rent at 40 Worth Street was $40 per square foot, but the final terms of the deal were not disclosed. Law firm Loeb & Loeb switched from subleasing space from Bristol Meyers at 345 Park Avenue to signing a 20-year direct lease at the same building. The firm added 36,000 square feet when it signed the direct lease, for a total of 155,000 square feet. Instinet also recently signed a massive lease, for 100,000 square feet of office space near Bryant Park.