From the December issue: As 2011 draws to a close, real estate executives and brokers say it’s now clear that office tenants made faster leasing decisions this year than last. The coming off the fence was driven, professionals say, by the realization that the economy was not likely to experience any major changes — for better or worse — anytime soon.

Peter Braus, managing principal at commercial firm Lee & Associates, which last month announced an affiliation with Midtown-based Sierra Realty, said the mood in 2011 was a recognition that the economy was not going to turn around right away.

“[This year] has been more of a realization that the recessionary economy is here to stay — at least for the foreseeable future,” he said. [more]

From left: James Wacht, principal of Sierra Realty and co-founder Lee & Assoicates NYC, Edward Indvik, vice chairman of the Lee & Associates investment group, and 12 East 46th Street (building credit: PropertyShark)

Los Angeles-based real estate brokerage firm Lee & Associates, which reported
$4.4 billion in transactions nationally last year, but has been off the radar in New
York City, opens its first office here today, company executives told The Real
Deal.

James Wacht and Peter Braus, principals of commercial brokerage Sierra Realty,
formed the new entity that will operate as Lee & Associates NYC, based in
Midtown and operating in Manhattan. The new company now has 14 brokers and
agents (brought over from Sierra Realty), but by the end of next year they expect
it to have 10 new hires in office, retail and multi-family leasing, Wacht said.
Wacht and Edward Indvik, vice chairman of the Lee & Associates investment
services group, spoke with The Real Deal yesterday.

“What we are going after are brokers who have a pretty good track record,
probably in excess of half a million dollars in gross commissions on an annual
basis,” Wacht said. [more]

Upper West Side brunch venue Sarabeth’s Kitchen signed a 15-year lease for a 9,000-square-foot space at 339 Greenwich Street in Tribeca, replacing Bazzini Nuts, the Observer reported. Open since the 1960s, Bazzini — which makes the peanuts at Yankee Stadium — decided to close its retail location and move its nut factory to the Bronx, after facing competition from the nearby Whole Foods. Sarabeth’s opened on Amsterdam Avenue in the 1980s selling homemade jam and baked goods. Peter Braus of Sierra Realty represented both the tenant and landlord, Bazzini Co., along with the Brad Schwarz. The deal was only finalized after an 18-month negotiation process, which was “challenging,” Braus said, since landmark approval was needed to alter the upstairs portion of the building, which has been converted into condos. The asking rent was about $100 a square foot, Braus said. Sarabeth’s has several other locations in New York City — on the Upper West Side, Upper East Side and Midtown — plus one store in Garden City, NY and another in Key West, Fla. [NYO]

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Sprinkles fan Oprah Winfrey, Sprinkles cupcakes and 780 Lexington Avenue (building photo: PropertyShark)

Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Sprinkles Cupcakes is coming to New York
City. The sweet shop has leased a 2,500-square-foot space at 780
Lexington Avenue, between 60th and 61st streets, across the street from
Bloomingdale’s. The store, at the former location of Gino’s Restaurant,
is slated to open in January 2011. Sierra Realty represented both the
tenant and the
landlord, 780-Lex Partnership, in the transaction. The store — with
its 20 different cupcake offerings and assorted toppings — has
attracted celebrity clients such as Tyra Banks, Russell Crowe and Oprah
Winfrey. “We knew Sprinkles’ Big Apple premiere deserved the ultimate
retail location,” said Peter Braus, an executive vice president at
Sierra. “So we found a space in the heart of the city’s most
productive, seven-day-per-week shopping district. We look forward to
finding other similarly high-profile locations for Sprinkles.” TRD

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From left: Gene Spiegelman of Cushman & Wakefield, Peter Braus of landlord Sierra Realty

The Real Estate Board of New York is in its 10th year of publishing a bi-annual retail report covering Manhattan, and commercial firm Cushman & Wakefield has been putting out its own comprehensive report for years, yet the industry remains far less transparent than its commercial twin, office leasing, insiders say.

REBNY is expected to release its survey of 16 retail corridors and seven neighborhoods in Manhattan next week, a report first published in the fall of 2000 to combat what it considered inaccuracies in market data in news stories.

Last month, Cushman came out with its first-quarter 2010 detailed report on seven Manhattan corridors, and other firms such as CB Richard Ellis and CoStar Group, put out their own quarterly data.

While these reports provide general asking rent data, they pale in comparison to office reports which provide figures on effective rents, leasing volume and other details. [more]

From left: Pret A Manger is moving in on the corner of 29th Street and Seventh Avenue and Fresh & Co. is a recent addition to the neighborhood on the corner of 30th Street and Seventh Avenue

Once thought of as a transit hub for travelers moving in and out of Penn Station, a strip of Seventh Avenue is slowly gaining retailer clout. Brokers say the stretch of retail from 29th to 34th streets is improving because of shifting real estate values, large development projects on the horizon and the influence of one property owner: Vornado Realty Trust. In the last few months, the quality of retailers in the area appears to have shifted. Fresh & Co., an upscale — primarily lunch — eatery, opened several months ago at the corner of 30th Street and Seventh Avenue. Pret A Manger, meanwhile, has plywood up on the corner of West 29th Street. And, within a couple of months after Supermac macaroni and cheese joint’s closing last November, a new vegan sit-down restaurant opened in the location on Seventh Avenue between 29th and 30th streets. And, as these high-end eateries crop up, some retail experts say that the neighborhood is turning a corner. [more]

In hindsight, an early nickname for the Empire State Building seems more like an omen. The building earned the moniker “Empty State Building” in the 1930s, when the city’s real estate market crashed after a boom decade. Built in 1931, it was one of several newer buildings that contributed to the city’s 92 percent increase in inventory during the Great Depression. Though the market cycled through ups and downs after that, the “empty” epithet has continued to haunt the Empire State Building. Even amid the boom, in 2006, the landmarked building’s vacancy rate reportedly stood at 18 percent. Today, the building, at 350 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street, has a vacancy rate of 22 percent, according to Fred Posniak, senior vice president at W & H Properties, the building’s manager. About 45 percent of the current vacancy is intentional, with space
being held off the market for renovation, Posniak said. That translates
to about 270,000 or 280,000 of the building’s 600,000 vacant square
feet. The rest of the vacant space, about 320,000 square feet, is on
the market. More

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