From top: Capstone Equities principals Joshua Zamir and Daniel Ghadamian; right, 14 Wall Street

Capstone Equities is scouring the market for cash so it can repay the mortgage on its stake in 14 Wall Street before it comes due in May, Crain’s reported. If Capstone, which bought the 37-story, 1 million-square-foot building with the Carlyle Group for $325 million in 2007, doesn’t find a partner, mezzanine debt holder Shorenstein Properties will likely move in on its stake.

Carlyle has already written off the investment as a loss, according to Crain’s, so it isn’t helping in the search for another partner. [more]

Scott Rechler, CEO of RXR Realty, and the Starrett-Lehigh Building

Scott Rechler’s RXR Realty this past Friday completed the purchase of the 2.3 million-square-foot office property in Chelsea, the Starrett-Lehigh Building at 601 West 26th Street, for $920 million, the company said in a news release this morning.

The 19-story building, built in 1932, was reported to be in contract in April after being brought to market by Eastdil Secured’s Doug Harmon and Adam Spies. It sold for about $400 per square foot. Tenants in the building include Martha Stuart-Omnimedia and clothing retailer Tommy Hilfiger. — Adam Pincus [more]

RXR Realty purchased the Starrett-Leigh building at 601 West 26th Street for $900 million from Shorenstein Properties, sources told Crain’s. The 79-year-old, 2.2 million-square-foot building has a variety of tenants, led by the Martha Stewart media empire and Lord & Taylor’s corporate offices. Crain’s said that Scott Rechler, chairman of RXR Realty, was interested in the property because he foresees growth in the area. RXR also purchased 1330 Sixth Avenue in November, and bought a 49 percent stake in 340 Madison Avenue last April. [Crain's]

From left: 1180 Sixth Ave., Norman Sturner, president of Murray Hill Properties, and Howard Michaels of the Carlton GroupHoward Michaels has saved the day at 1180 Sixth Avenue, bringing in an anonymous Chinese investor to bail out the owners before a planned foreclosure auction by mezzanine debt holder Shorenstein Properties, according to the Post. Norman Sturner’s Murray Hill Properties and the Carlyle Group had defaulted on their mortgage payments in January after buying the 23-story property, between 46th and 47th streets, for $300 million at the height of the market. Shorenstein filed to foreclose late last month. [more]

1180 Sixth Avenue and Norman Sturner, president of Murray Hill PropertiesShorenstein Properties is foreclosing on its mezzanine debt at 1180 Sixth Avenue after owners Murray Hill Properties and the Carlyle Group defaulted on their mortgage payments last month, Crain’s reported. The joint venture purchased the 23-story property, between 46th and 47th streets, for $300 million in 2007, but ran into financial trouble there after the market crashed. As a result, Murray Hill Properties had recently hired the Carlton Group to help it hold onto the 400,000-square-foot tower, with chairman Howard Michaels reportedly hunting for another $245 million. [more]

1180 Sixth Avenue and Norman Sturner, president of Murray Hill PropertiesMurray Hill Properties has defaulted on its loan at 1180 Sixth Avenue and has tapped real estate investment bank the Carlton Group to help save its investment, sources told Crain’s, though Norman Sturner, president of Murray Hill, denied the reports. The mezzanine debt on the 400,000-square-foot property is currently owned by Shorenstein Properties, who has told real estate executives it may foreclose. Sources say that Carlton’s chairman, Howard Michaels, is looking for about $245 million. Murray Hill purchased the 23-story tower, between 46th and 47th streets, in 2007 for $300 million, public records show. [more]

With three large Manhattan commercial properties recently listed for sale, and another reportedly on its way to the block, prospective buyers are swirling and observers are wondering whether this is the beginning of a market comeback. Last month, Broadway Partners’ 340 Madison Avenue, the 740,000-square-foot office tower that has positive cash flow and is nearly 100 percent occupied, went on the market, and sources told Crain’s it is listed for about $700 per square foot. Joining 340 Madison Avenue on the market is the Helmsley Carlton House hotel at 680 Madison Avenue, which has apparently already drawn bids of $150 million-plus, and Hines Interests’ 600 Lexington Avenue, which went up for grabs last week. Shorenstein Properties is expected to begin shopping around its 125 Park Avenue office tower next week. Since none of these properties’ owners are desperate for cash, they could easily pull the buildings from the market if they don’t command what they view as a fair price, analysts say. Vulture investors have spent the last year building up war chests in the hopes that properties like these might eventually go up for sale, but whether investors and owners will be able to agree on pricing as the commercial market emerges from its crash remains to be seen. [Crain's]

The national book retailer Borders has slashed by 18 percent the price
to sublease the space it rents in a commercial cooperative space that
developer Cohen Brothers Realty purchased this month in the Ritz Tower
in Midtown.
Last year Borders offered to sublease four floors of retail space it is
renting in the tower at 465 Park Avenue at 57th Street, for $4.3
million, sources said, in anticipation of closing the store. Now, Borders is asking $3.5 million per year for the site, according to
Robin Abrams, executive vice president of Lansco, which has been
marketing the lease in coordination with DJM Realty of Long Island
since June. [more]