Clockwise from left: a rendering of the new signature facility, MiMA development, the Signature Theater logo and Related’s Stephen Ross

Midtown-based Signature Theater Company has closed on its purchase of a commercial unit at 450 West 42nd Street for $6.666 million, according to public records filed with the city yesterday. The purchase, which closed July 20, marks another step toward the completion of its new $60 million home within MiMA, the Related Companies’ high-rise mixed-use development, which is also home to the Yotel Hotel. The facility is due to open in February 2011.

A publicist for Signature confirmed the purchase, saying that the new space will allow the company to expand its programming “exponentially.” The Frank Gehry-designed 70,000-square-foot center will feature three theatres, including a 199-seat proscenium theatre, a 199-seat flexible courtyard theatre and a 299-seat end stage theatre, as well as a rehearsal studio, café, bookstore, and offices all on one level. [more]

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From left: David LaRue of Forest City Enterprises, 8 Spruce Street and DKLB BKLN

Forest City Enterprises and National Real Estate Advisors announced agreements to restructure the financing at 8 Spruce Street, the Frank Gehry-designed 76-story rental tower in Lower Manhattan and at DKLB BKLN the luxury tower in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, saving the companies hundreds of millions of dollars in debt payments.
The development is key for Forest City, the parent firm of Forest City Ratner, as this $876 million rental tower, formerly known as the Beekman, was under pressure to bring in enough renters to become profitable in a market that is just getting its sea legs.

“By extending the bank credit facilities, it allows for additional time for economic conditions and rents to further improve before refinancing is necessary,” said David LaRue, CEO of Forest City Enterprises, in a statement. [more]

Anbau Enterprises paid $18.5 million for a parking lot in the Flatiron District, and plans to turn it into a glass condominium with a highly unique exterior that extends beyond the brick structures surrounding it, the Wall Street Journal reported. The land, at 39-41 West 23rd Street, was previously owned by Horizen Global, a small company with a pre-downturn plan to build a glass hotel by Cooper Square Hotel architect Carlos Zapata on the site. The design — which architecture scholar John Messengale compared to Gehry’s IAC building in Chelsea — prompted the local community board to request that City Planning not grant a permit for the building, which is located in the landmarked Ladies’ Mile Historic District. [more]

Frank Gehry and his Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation

From the March issue: A French court ruling has halted construction of a new building in Paris designed by starchitect Frank Gehry. But the city of Paris is appealing the ruling, the Independent reported. The partly built museum and gallery was commissioned by fashion mogul Bernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy and other brands. If the city’s appeal fails, the building will have to be torn down. Gehry, 82, said he was “outraged by the selfishness, lack of civic pride and ignorance” of the group of Paris residents who opposed his design, according to French architect Jean Nouvel, who spoke on Gehry’s behalf. In 2006, when he had first outlined his design for the building, which is called the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation and resembles a squashed lamp shade, Gehry described it as “a cloud of glass — magical, ephemeral, all transparent.” Click here for more.

Famed architect Frank Gehry celebrated his 82nd birthday this past Saturday during a fete on the 76th floor of New York by Gehry, the starchitect’s latest project located at 8 Spruce Street in Lower Manhattan. Among the guests at the party (see photos above), held in a penthouse unit inside the newly opened rental tower, were numerous stars of the art, music and real estate worlds, including actress Candice Bergen, singer Bono and Forest City Ratner CEO Bruce Ratner, which developed the 903-unit building. TRD

Cooper Square Realty has been tapped as the managing agent for New York by Gehry, the 76-story Financial District rental tower developed by Forest City Ratner, Crain’s reported. Move-ins have already begun at the steel, 903-unit building, whose leasing office opened last month. Citi Habitats, which is marketing the property with Nancy Packes, would not reveal occupancy numbers but said leasing activity has been “above expectations.” Studios at the 8 Spruce Street behemoth — the tallest residential building in the city — start at $2,630 per month, while one-bedrooms start at $3,580 per month and two-bedrooms start at $5,945 per month. [Crain’s]

Stuart ElliottFrom the March issue: With more resilience than one might have anticipated, New York City developers are still thinking outside the glass box. Pundits said the recession was supposed to mean the death of good architecture in Manhattan, as developers sought to do more “value engineering” on their projects. Fancy design was expected to be the first thing to be eliminated from the budget. But recent projects — led by 8 Spruce Street, Manhattan’s new tallest residential tower — show that’s not the case. Not only vital for New York’s competitiveness among world cities, this sort of forward-thinking architecture is great news for the real estate world — and for real estate values. [more]

Clifford Finn, 47, is the director of new development marketing at Citi Habitats. A rental specialist, Finn has been involved with leasing at several recent rental developments, including the Continental at 885 Sixth Avenue at the corner of 32nd Street and the Beatrice, on the top floors of the Eventi hotel a few blocks south. Most recently, he’s begun marketing 8 Spruce Street, a 76-story rental tower by famed architect Frank Gehry, which drew 1,000 brokers when it opened to renters last month. Compiled by Amy Tennery [more]

The leasing office at the Frank Gehry-designed 8 Spruce Street opened to renters a few days ago, just about a week after more than 1,000 residential leasing brokers streamed through the 76-story tower near City Hall to get a first peek inside of the building.

Clad in an undulating stainless steel skin, 8 Spruce Street is the tallest residential tower in the city, and has drawn intense interest through its impact on the skyline and its high-profile architect.

Susi Yu, a senior vice president of development at Forest City Ratner, said in an interview with Insights from The Real Deal (see video above) that hundreds of apartment brokers — by invitation only — came over several days starting the second week in February to view the available units.

The building, being marketed by Citi Habitats Marketing Group and Nancy Packes Inc., is releasing an initial group of approximately 120 units on floors 11, 12 and 14, and 27 through 34. The starting price for studios averaging 500 square feet is $2,630 per month; the one-bedrooms start at $3,580 for upwards of 630 square feet; and two-bedrooms start at $5,945 per month, for apartments1,050 square feet and bigger, Yu said.

Those figures would amount to a price of $63 per foot for studios and $68 per foot for one- and two-bedrooms, according to calculations by The Real Deal.

And while brokers began viewing layouts in the 903-unit tower recently — and the leasing office opened last weekend — the very first tenant tour actually took place Feb. 11. It was a special preview for a couple expecting their second child, to firm up their housing plans, Yu said.

Move-ins are scheduled for next month.

[more]

From left: Lenox Avenue and 125th Street, the second section of the High Line and 3 Columbus Circle

From the January issue: Home and office markets in New York improved in the last year, even if the signs of progress were measured in baby steps. Rental buildings scaled back incentives, distressed-debt investors sank their money into stalled condo projects, and office vacancies appeared to inch down in prime areas. Those trends should continue through the New Year, according to brokers, developers and urban policy experts, even if things won’t look like the heyday of the mid-2000s before Lehman Brothers collapsed. To gauge the rebound’s staying power, keep an eye on these 10 projects and deals over the next 12 months. [more]