Steven Pozycki of SJP Properties and 11 Times Square
The developer of the half-empty speculative office tower 11 Times Square has filed documents related to dividing the sleek 40-story tower into two condominium units, records on the city’s Department of Buildings website show.
Developer Steven Pozycki’s New Jersey-based firm SJP Properties built the 1.1 million-square-foot tower between 41st and 42nd streets at 640 Eighth Avenue, which officially opened one year ago this month. [more]
Steven Pozycki’s SJP Properties said it will develop the $190 million new North
American headquarters for Panasonic in downtown Newark by 2013, under
a joint venture with Matrix Development Group.
Panasonic agreed to relocate 1,000 employees from its current Secaucus,
N.J. headquarters to One Riverfront Center, located steps from Newark Penn
Station and the city’s Gateway Center business complex.
The electronics giant, which considered Brooklyn and several other
locations across the country as alternative sites, was lured by more than
$102.4 million in Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits and other incentives
designed to locate businesses near major public transit hubs.
“This is a monumental day for Newark,” Stefan Pryor, deputy mayor for
Newark, told The Real Deal. “It changes the trajectory for our city.” [more]
Amid much back-slapping and cheerleading about the growth of Manhattan’s West Side at a panel yesterday that included developer Larry Silverstein, there was a hint that change could be afoot for the East Side of Midtown in the years to come. The millions of square feet of new office development being planned and built on the West Side in projects such as SJP Properties’ 11 Times Square and Related Companies’ Hudson Yards could lead owners of older Midtown office buildings — many of which are on the East Side — to convert them into residential apartments, following a pattern seen Downtown. [more]
The developer of the half-empty, 1.1 million-square-foot office tower at 11 Times Square has not signed a large lease since the law firm Proskauer Rose struck a deal last May, but it has found a few smaller tenants.
There are “a couple pre-builts with leases” pending, Stephen Siegel, chairman of global brokerage at CB Richard Ellis, said, referring to finished office space constructed by developers to attract companies. He did not identify the companies that took space.
Siegel and Steven Pozycki, CEO of 11 Times Square developer SJP Properties, were on hand last night for the ribbon-cutting led by Mayor Michael Bloomberg for Proskauer Rose opening its new office. Siegel made his comments in a private interview with The Real Deal. [more]
Eleven Times Square, the recently completed 1.1-million-square-foot office and retail tower in Midtown, has been granted LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, developer SJP Properties announced today. The building, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street, incorporates the latest green technology in its design, including an advanced air filtration and ventilation system, as well as a glass curtain wall exterior that reduces heat gain and allows in natural light. “Our original vision for 11 Times Square was to create a commercial building that would effectively raise the bar for sustainable construction and design…” said Steven Pozycki, CEO of SJP Properties. TRD [more]
From the March issue: Although they may be just beguiling mirages that will fade upon approach, there are some submarkets where asking rents have jumped in the past months, a trend that runs counter to the dour predictions from Manhattan leasing brokers that taking rents won’t rise for more than a year.
In the Meatpacking District, for example, Charles Blaichman’s CB Developers High Line building that remains under construction at 450 West 14th Street has asking rents above $100 per square foot. The space was added to the availability list in January, driving up average rates in the district, the most recent figures from commercial firm Jones Lang LaSalle show.
And in the Union Square submarket, the average asking rent rose by 14 percent with the addition of space at 300 Park Avenue South, commercial firm CB Richard Ellis’ latest report said.
[more]
SJP Properties’ 11 Times Square is close to a deal that would bring a seven-story aquarium to the lower floors of the empty tower, the Wall Street Journal reported. Toronto developer Jerry Shefsky is in negotiations that could allow him to start building out the space — a project that would cost an estimated $100 million — as soon as April, in order to debut the aquarium in September 2011. SJP broke ground on the 40-story tower in 2007. The property is scheduled to be completed in the next few months with office rents having dropped off 20 percent in the last year, according to Reis. The 11 Times Square aquarium would be unique as far as aquariums go, with far fewer fish than most and only 600,000 gallons of water, compared to the eight million gallons contained in Atlanta’s Georgia Aquarium, which opened in 2005. Half the space would be comprised of water exhibits, while a pirate museum and educational displays would adorn the rest, said Shefsky, who is head of Aquarium Developments Corp. Shefsky said a rendering of the aquarium was not yet available and that financial backers, who he declined to name, have been secured for the project. Law firm Proskauer Rose is also reportedly in negotiations for a 400,000-square-foot lease in the building.
After a dismal year for New Jersey’s office market, some analysts say that rents have fallen far enough to stimulate some leasing activity. Whether that will continue into a full-fledged recovery in 2010, however, is a more elusive question. The year will likely end with a “flicker of an uptick,” according to Craig Eisenhardt, a CB Richard Ellis leasing specialist. That flicker, he said, translates to a 21.5 percent office vacancy rate, down slightly from its 22 percent rate in the third quarter. Jones Lang LaSalle has predicted that the fourth quarter will boast 150,000 square feet more occupied office space than the third quarter. Though that’s a small number relative to the New Jersey market as a whole, “it is still the first time the vacancy rate has declined in seven quarters,” said Daniel Loughlin, managing director for Jones Lang LaSalle. “The good news is we’re not out of gas,” said Steven Pozycki, CEO of SJP Properties, which developed the Waterfront Corporate Center in Hoboken. “The bad news is that it’s only less bad than it was.” [NYT]
From the October issue: Like a vertical ghost town, 11 Times Square, the city’s largest
speculative office tower, remains entirely unleased more than two years
after breaking ground in the summer of 2007. Some experts give the owners — a partnership between developer SJP
Properties and a fund managed by Prudential Real Estate Investors
called PRISA — little chance of holding on to the 1
million-square-foot building without a significant debt restructuring,
if at all. They cite the current weak economy, the 25 percent decline in rents,
and the cost of the building, a pricey $1,100 per square foot. Those affiliated with the building, which is located at 640 Eighth
Avenue between 41st and 42nd streets, have put on a brave face,
however. They say there is a great deal of activity at 11 Times Square,
which is being marketed by commercial brokerage CB Richard Ellis.
Developer Steven Pozycki, CEO of SJP Properties, sat down with the New York Times to discuss his New Jersey roots and his latest project, 11 Times Square, which has had trouble acquiring tenants. There are currently no signed leases for the 40-story glass commercial tower stationed across from the Port Authority terminal, which is three-quarters completed. As The Real Deal reported, some experts have suggested that Pozycki won’t be able to hold onto the 1 million-square-foot building unless SJP is able to restructure the space’s debt. Still, Pozycki said he’s very confident that the project will move on as planned. “Fundamentally, we could carry the building three years — dead empty — from next April, when the building is finished,” Pozycki said. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Pozycki told The Real Deal that the carrying period was two and a half years.
