Causeway Bay in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is hanging on to its lead over New York City as home to the priciest retail space in the world, according to a report from CBRE Group cited by Reuters.

The flashy shopping hub has 50 percent higher retail rent than similar districts, including Manhattan’s most expensive retail stretch, Fifth Avenue from 49th to 59th streets. In high-end shopping areas in Hong Kong, the city averaged $4,328 per square foot.New York took second place among the most expensive global retail markets, with its prime rents averaging $2,970 per square foot, Reuters said. [more]

UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti and 299 Park Avenue

As part of a consolidation effort, Swiss bank UBS has listed nearly three-quarters of its office space at 299 Park Avenue in Midtown for sublease, Bloomberg News reported. The space inside the 1.2 million-square-foot tower will be available in the middle of 2014.

The square footage totals 382,000 square feet, but the bank will hold onto five floors — roughly 130,000 square feet — until the lease expires in 2018. The bank will consolidate the bulk of its operations into the 1.7 million-square-foot 1285 Sixth Avenue, as well as offices it has in Stamford, Conn. [more]

From left: Citi Bike and Alec Monaghan

Though the delayed New York City bike share initiative will have multiple station locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the headquarters of Citi Bike will be located in Sunset Park, where the program has leased 39,200 square feet at 53rd Street and Third Avenue, the Wall Street Journal reported. [more]

125 Broad Street

Financial firm Loeb Holding Corp. has signed a 22,000-square-foot lease at 125 Broad Street in Lower Manhattan, bringing the Mack-Cali-owned portion of the 1.3-million-square-foot building to full occupancy, Crain’s reported.

The New Jersey-based Mack-Cali owns 580,000 square feet of the 40-story tower, which sustained flooding during Hurricane Sandy. Loeb’s nearly 16-year lease encompasses half of the 14th floor. The firm was previously at 61 Broadway. Asking rents are in the $30s per square foot. [more]

from left: Williamsburgh Savings Bank building and the restored interiors of the building

A 250-room hotel will go up next to the historic Williamsburgh Savings Bank building in Brooklyn, a spokesperson for the developer, Juan Figueroa, confirmed to The Real Deal today. [more]

CBRE’s Paul Amrich and 444 Madison Avenue

Private investment firm Ellis Lake Capital has inked a lease at the Westbrook Partners-owned 444 Madison Avenue, paying more than $100 per square foot, Crain’s reported. The dollar value of the seven-year agreement is further evidence of the way companies that need less space are outpacing larger tenants, Crain’s said. [more]

From the March issue: The Real Deal looked at the seven largest third-party brokerages active in the city in terms of  both transaction volume and revenue. Clocking in at No. 1 on the ranking was CBRE Group, the world’s largest commercial brokerage. By TRD’s estimate, the company’s New York office brokered 13.2 million square feet of lease deals on both the landlord and tenant sides in Manhattan south of 59th Street, where all of Manhattan’s major office markets are located…. [more]

From left: CBRE’s Lon Rubackin and East Harlem

East Harlem is drawing more developers for residential projects, the New York Times reported. And the attraction is strong: students at the Hunter College Silberman School of Social Work need housing, as do young professionals and families pushed out of the Upper East Side by high rents. [more]

Wendy Silverstein

From the March issue: The New York City real estate community took notice when news broke in late January about MaryAnne Gilmartin’s expected promotion to CEO of Forest City Ratner. While women — including the Corcoran Group’s Pamela Liebman, Douglas Elliman’s Dottie Herman, Eastern Consolidated’s Daun Paris and CBRE Group’s Mary Ann Tighe — hold key leadership positions in the city’s residential and commercial brokerage worlds, New York still has very few female developers or development firm heads. [more] 

9 East 38th Street, sold by Yeshiva University to ClearRock

An increasing number of nonprofits are taking advantage of the real estate market’s resurgence by cashing in on their property portfolio, Crain’s reported.

Last week, St. John’s University announced that it was putting its 10-story Tribeca business school building on the market, in a deal that experts say could net the university $200 million. The Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services will also be selling a site on West 7th Street that would allow up to 100,000 square feet of residential development, sources told Crain’s, and could rake in up to $45 million. And in February, a joint venture between ClearRock Properties and Juster Properties acquired two adjacent Midtown buildings from Yeshiva University for $29 million.  [more]