Because of the relatively high prices they are willing to pay in an office market that has begun to favor efficiency, hedge funds are becoming the darlings of commercial real estate landlords, brokers and interior designers, Crain’s reported.
Hedge funds are often willing to pay $125 per square foot in rent and spend $400 per square foot to decorate their offices and add amenities such as private gyms and four-star kitchens. [more]
The buyer of the 254,000-square-foot office condominium atop Barneys New York at 660 Madison Avenue was an investment entity controlled by Brazilian billionaire Joseph Safra, Bloomberg News reported. At $285 million, or $1,100 per square foot, the transaction was the priciest for a New York City office building on a per-square-foot basis last year, said Dan Fasulo, managing director of Real Capital Analytics. [more]
Commercial sales and leasing powerhouse CB Richard Ellis says its
brokers are owed a sizable commission after putting in months of work
showing space to a directory assistance firm that moved to a larger
floor in a Plaza District building it already rented in. CBRE is suing KGB USA, a provider of directory assistance formerly
known as Infonxx, for unpaid commissions calculated to be $380,983 for
a lease the company signed at 655 Madison Avenue, a suit filed May 4 in Manhattan State Supreme Court says. The 25-story office building at Madison Avenue and 60th Street, built
in 1951, is also home to the Loews Corporation and Estee Lauder and is
owned by FirstService Williams executives. The suit does not name
FirstService Williams or any of its executives or brokers in the
complaint.
[more]
