Urban Outfitters at 521 Fifth Avenue
While retail rents have remained fairly stable across most of Manhattan, Crain’s cited a CBRE report that found asking rents along Fifth Avenue between 42nd and 49th Streets to have grown 47 percent between the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of this year. The average asking rent for the area is now $954 per square foot. [more]
From left: David Lebenstein, senior managing director at Cassidy Turley, and John Pavone, vice president at UGL
In the first two months of 2012, 2.9 million square feet of commercial leasing activity was recorded in Manhattan, trailing the year-over-year numbers by 31 percent, according to numbers from CBRE Group’s Manhattan Marketview Snapshots, released today.
February saw 190,000 square feet of negative absorption, although February’s 1.47 million square feet of total activity was a slight increase from January’s 1.44 million square feet. Asking rents in Manhattan rose negligibly, by $0.16 per square foot, to $54.40, the report says. [more]
From left: Radisson Lexington Hotel and Bradley Burwell, senior associate at CBRE
Manhattan hotel investment sales were strong in 2011 and are projected to remain strong in 2012, according to CBRE’s winter 2012 snapshot, released today. Limited-service and focused-service hotels that are part of “internationally recognized brands” have posted particularly strong performance, the report says.
In 2012, average daily rates for hotels in the New York-metro region will increase 4.5 percent, to $243, and revenue per available room, or revpar, will increase 5.4 percent, to $197. And as capital markets continue to improve, hotel investment sales will also improve, the report says. [more]
From left: CBRE vice chairmen Darcy Stacom (top) and Bill Shanahan, 33 Maiden Lane and Federal Reserve Bank of New York Chairman Lee Bollinger
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York exercised its right to buy the downtown office building it occupies for $207.5 million, according to CBRE Group, which marketed the building. The 27-stoy 600,000-square-foot property at 33 Maiden Lane, between Nassau and William streets, was put on the market by Atlanta-based Invesco and Hannover Leasing in October.
While the Fed’s occupancy of three-quarters of the building lent it stability, the lease also mitigated the building’s upside, according to published reports, because it was signed in 1986 and guarantees a below-market rate through 2023. [more]
National economic fundamentals are continuing to improve, limiting some of the risks threatening fixed-income markets and commercial real estate, according to a U.S. property snapshot forward-looking report by Asieh Mansour, head of Americas research at CBRE Group, released today.
Real estate market fundamentals continue to improve across all sectors, the report says, boosted by the limited amount of new supply that has come online. [more]
From left: Midtown Manhattan and Mary Ann Tighe, CEO of tri-state region for CBRE
Manhattan office leasing finished 2011 with gradual but steady improvement in asking rents, according to data released today by CBRE.
The exception is Midtown South, where the “glow of Google,” as Mary Ann Tighe, CEO of the tri-state region for CBRE, called it, pushed 2011 absorption to 2.19 million square feet — the highest for that market since 1997. In Midtown South, the overall availability rate fell to 8.8 percent in December, down slightly from November, the largest monthly drop since 2005, according to the figures presented by CBRE at its fourth-quarter media breakfast this morning. [more]
From left: Stephen Siegel and Peter Turchin of CBRE and 218 West 18th Street
A joint venture between Atlas Capital Group and GreenOaks Real Estate Partners has purchased the defaulted note on a recently redeveloped 172,000-square-foot Chelsea office property, Crain’s reported, and has brought in a new leasing team to attract tenants to the building. [more]
Vornado Realty Trust and SL Green Realty each has its own large management team charged with day-to-day operations of its portfolio of assets. But the Wall Street Journal reported that when the two firms teamed to take control of 280 Park Avenue, they made the unusual move of hiring an outside firm, CBRE Group, to manage the Midtown office tower, rather than pick between one of its own divisions.
The move to hire CBRE quelled concerns over how the two huge real estate firms would work together on a single asset. Though the Journal said leases at the building do still take longer to close, and the companies reportedly disagreed over which architect to hire for the $100 million renovation of the building, SL Green executives said the partnership has worked well. [more]
From left: Darcy Stacom, vice chairman of CBRE, and 711 Third AvenueSL Green Realty has pulled 711 Third Avenue from the market three months after tapping Darcy Stacom, vice chairman of CBRE to market the property.
According to Crain’s, the landlord reneged because it did not receive offers in the range of $200 million to $225 million that it had expected for the 580,000-square-foot office tower between 44th and 45th streets. SL Green owns the leasehold and a 50 percent interest in the ground beneath the building. [more]
Airy, open-plan office spaces, once seen as difficult to rent, are commanding some of the highest office rents in Manhattan since the recession, the New York Times reported, some more than $100 a square foot. These spaces, with dramatic city views, can be found in Midtown towers like 499 Park Avenue and 250 West 55th Street, the Times said, as well as downtown at 1 and 3 World Trade Center, now under construction.
Also desirable for their floor plans are buildings like 51 Astor Place, 28-40 West 23rd Street and 30 Rockefeller Center, where investment company Lazard is redesigning its 430,000 square feet on the top floors.
“Constantly now, we see firms wanting to build dramatic space,” said Peter Turchin, an executive vice president at CBRE. [more]
