News

February 1, 2016 | The Real Deal | Mark Maurer

New York City had a stellar year in 2015 for building sales — with massive properties like Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village and 11 Madison trading hands. But while it’s the buyers and sellers who normally make headlines, the brokers on those deals made out pretty well, too.

This month, The Real Deal ranked the top 30 investment sales brokerages for 2015 citywide and by borough.

What we found was that Eastdil Secured not only bested all other firms but also set a city record — $22.7 billion — for the most-ever closed sales in a year by a single brokerage.

The company was miles ahead of its rivals. The other firms in the top five were: CBRE with $8.8 billion, Cushman & Wakefield with $3.4 billion, Rosewood Realty Group with $3.2 billion and JLL and HFF tied with $2.9 billion.

The ranking — which included closed investment sales of $1 million and up, ground leases and leasehold interests — was culled from Real Capital Analytics and CoStar Group, as well as from the firms. Minority-stake deals were not included because they are not generally publicly recorded.

In the years since the mid-2000s boom, the neck-and-neck rivalry between Eastdil and its closest competitor, CBRE, has softened. The two firms are further apart in terms of dollar volume now more than ever...

Click here for full article

It’s an exciting time for Brooklyn.

Yesterday, several of Cushman & Wakefield’s Brooklyn agents gathered with Entrepreneurs’ Organization for a panel discussion on the Brooklyn market. Moderated by EO’s Bert Rosenblatt, the panelists included experts Brendan Maddigan, Alex Svetlakou, Aaron Warkov, Winfield Clifford, Michael Amirkhanian, Michael Mazzara, and Nicole Liebman. Each agent covers a different territory in Brooklyn, making for an in-depth and substantive conversation.

The Brooklyn market remains strong as lower land prices continue to attract investors away from Manhattan and tenants come in to satisfy the growing demand for product and service-based retailers.

“Retail has been extremely strong in Brooklyn over the past two quarters.  With major leases such as Whole Foods, Apple, IMAX, Kit and Ace, Trader Joes, and so on, the borough is seeing a large push of national and well-established operators,” said Nicole Liebman.

It comes to no surprise that more businesses are setting up shop. With the increase of mixed-use and residential units, approximately 15,000 coming to market within the next two years, there is a tremendous need for retail development.

Agents noted that overlooked neighborhoods like Coney Island are also on the rise.

“In addition to significant development plans filed, Coney Island has experienced a notable increase in activity near the Luna Park and Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue stops within the last year,” said Alex Svetlakou. 

Amidst the changing landscape, the borough’s longstanding identity as an arts and culture capital prevails in Williamsburg, and surprisingly, Downtown Brooklyn.

“I think everyone knows about Brooklyn Bridge Park, Barclay’s Center, all of the new construction going on in Downtown Brooklyn – but I think something that gets over looked is Downtown Brooklyn’s art and culture presence. BAM is America’s oldest performing arts center and has been around for over 150 years with world renowned programming in theater, dance, music, opera, and film,” said Michael Mazzara.

Neighborhoods: Williamsburg, Coney Island, Downtown Brooklyn/ Agents: Brendan Maddigan, Michael Mazzara, Winfield Clifford

Paul J. Massey, Jr. will be honored at Bridges to Community 2015 Leadership Dinner.  The event will be held tonight at TriBeCa 360!

Click here for event information

Agents: Paul Massey Jr.

Paul J. Massey, Jr. will receive the Bridges to Community 2015 Outstanding Vision Award, given to individuals who have made a significant impact in helping people in the developing world, at the 2015 Leadership Dinner.

Agents: Paul Massey Jr.

So far in 2014, the strength of northern New Jersey’s commercial real estate market has been linked primarily to the multifamily and industrial sectors, but one of the best-performing subsectors rarely mentioned is medical office buildings. As an inconspicuously popular asset class, medical offices are quietly reaching peak levels of investment and leasing activity at steadily rising prices per square foot and continually compressing cap rates. An evolving healthcare industry, along with a unique stock of buildings in the Garden State, has created ripe conditions for medical office properties to flourish as an outperforming highlight of the northern New Jersey market.

Click here to view full report

Massey Knakal will join the Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce for the State of the East Village event on June 18th at The Smith located at 55 Third Avenue.

The event will feature an informative discussion with Massey Knakal's James Nelson, Brendan Gotch, and John Leslie about the impact of the recent developments in the East Village.

Click here for event information

Neighborhoods: East Village

According to Massey Knakal’s Research department’s 1Q14 Property Sales Report, the first quarter of 2014 was noted as the second best performing first quarter in the Brooklyn boroughs history behind 1Q07 - 374 transactions closed with a total aggregate value of $1.67 billion. North Central Brooklyn, which we define as compromising the neighborhoods of Bedford Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Crown Heights and Prospect Lefferts Gardens saw its biggest quarter on record.

Transaction volume from the North Central Brooklyn submarket accounted for 27% of the Brooklyn borough’s total transaction volume. Six 8-figure transactions closed during 1Q14 for a total aggregate value of $92M. These larger transactions are not seen often and show that the area is attracting a new, more institutional profile of investors.
 
Click here to view full report

See charts below for a quarter over quarter analysis of each neighborhood

Neighborhoods: Bushwick, Bedford Stuyvesant, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Crown Heights

On May 2nd, Massey Knakal was recruiting at the NJ Statewide Career & Internship Fair at the Rutgers-New Brunswick Sonny Werblin Recreation Center.   The event featured nearly 150 employment organizations seeking to fill full-time, internship, and summer positions.

Click here to browse available positions at Massey Knakal

Photo: Nicole Nannola and David Simon, Executive Managing Director, New Jersey, man the Massey Knakal table at the event.

By, Guthrie Garvin

Neighborhoods: Upper East Side

On  April  23,  the  Lower  East  Side  Tenement  Museum  held  its  annual  gala  event celebrating the rich history and vibrant future of New York City and the Lower East Side.  This year’s sold-out event raised nearly $1 million for the Museum. It was the most successful Gala in the Museum’s 25-year history. The event was held at the Essex Street Market in buildings rarely seen by the general public over the last 60 years.

The  Museum’s  2014  Gala  honored  Taconic  Investment  Partners,  L+M  Development  Partners,  and  BFC  Partners.

Photo 1: Morris J. Vogel/Tenement Museum, Joseph Hilton/Murray Hill Properties, Paul J. Massey, Jr./Massey Knakal, David Hollander/CBRE

Photo 2: Paul J. Massey, Jr.

Photo 3: HONOREES & OTHERS: Morris J. Vogel/Tenement Museum, Sanford Loewentheil/L+M Development Partners, Charles R. Bendit/Taconic Investment Partners, Ron Moelis/L+M Development Partners, Paul J. Massey, Jr./Massey Knakal,  Stephen B. Siegel/CBRE, Brandon Baron/BFC Partners, Paul E. Pariser/Taconic Investment Partners

Neighborhoods: Lower East Side/ Agents: Paul Massey Jr.

By: David Simon, Executive Managing Director, New Jersey

Last year, 924 properties sold in the six counties that Massey Knakal Realty Services tracks in Northern New Jersey (Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Essex, Union and Middlesex) which equates to a thirteen (13%) percent decline from the prior year.  However, even though the number of trades that occurred in the sectors we monitor was down, the gross aggregate dollar value of these transactions increased by forty five (45%) percent.

Demand for multifamily and industrial continued to be very strong in 2013.  Forty one (41%) percent of the total dollar value occurred in the industrial sector.  This was driven by the fact that three industrial buildings sold for over $80 million dollars each.  The majority of the industrial activity occurred in Middlesex County which has a vacancy rate of 7.4%.

Click here to read full article

Neighborhoods: Hudson County

On April 23, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum will hold its annual gala event celebrating the rich history and vibrant future of New York City and the Lower East Side. This year’s event has raised $1 million for the Museum, and is nearly sold-out. It is the most successful Gala in the Museum’s 25-year history. Held at the Essex Street Market in buildings rarely seen by the general public over the last 60 years, the Tenement Museum Gala may be the last ever held in these historic spaces.

The Museum’s 2014 Gala honors Taconic Investment Partners, L+M Development Partners, and BFC Partners; in September of 2013, these three firms were selected by the City of New York to develop the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, which represents one of most significant urban renewal development opportunities remaining in Manhattan. Now known as Essex Crossing, the project will celebrate the neighborhood's past while promoting cultural energy and economic development for its future.

The Gala will begin in the Market’s Building D at 83 Essex Street with an array of foods highlighting the culinary diversity of the Lower East Side from vendors including Katz's Delicatessen, Parm, DiPalo's, Grey Lady, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Brooklyn Taco, Vanessa’s Dumplings, and Saxelby Cheesemongers. Guests will enjoy activities including a fortune teller, Chinese silhouette artist, and henna artist, and music from Lower East Side musicians.

This year’s Gala coincides with the most successful year in Museum visitorship. Notable attendees to the event include top names in New York real estate such as Bruce and Julie Menin, Paul J. Massey, Jr., Paul Pariser, Charles Bendit, Ron Moelis, Donald Capoccia, Jonathan Mechanic, and Robert Ivanhoe.

Click here for press release

Click here for event information

Neighborhoods: Lower East Side/ Agents: Paul Massey Jr.

According to Massey Knakal’s Research department’s 2013 Brooklyn Property Sales Report, Brooklyn led all markets citywide in annual transaction volume. There was over 1,400 transactions totaling over $3.6 billion in aggregate dollar volume borough wide – almost doubling that of 2011. When taking a magnifying glass over North Central Brooklyn, which we define as comprising the rapidly transitioning neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Crown Heights and Prospect Lefferts Gardens, we see much more of an exciting picture. 

By: Brendan Gotch, Director of Retail Leasing

E-commerce is quickly capturing a large share of the retail sales market across the United States. A recent report by Cassidy Turley shows that internet usage has increased by 1.5 billion people in the last 10 years alone. This has translated into a 10% increase in e-commerce in the last five years, now representing 5.4% of all retail sales in the United States. Analysts project that this figure will grow to 30% of all retail sales in the US in the next 30 years. The combination of this internet surge and improvements in mobile technology are making it easier to purchase goods without ever entering a store. The impact on brick and mortar retail stores is substantial, however, it is not strictly negative, nor is it evenly distributed across varieties of retailers.

Click here for full article

Neighborhoods: Greenwich Village

The Gamelatron Bunga Kota (Flower of the City) draws upon Indonesia’s thousand-year-old Gamelan music tradition of bronze instrument ensembles and combines it with the emerging field of robotics to create a live magical, private performance. As a site-specific contemporary artwork, the project consists of kinetic sculptures that use specially tuned bronze instruments retrofitted with mechanical mallets on sculptural mounts to create an immersive sound installation.

Click here for more information

Neighborhoods: Midtown West/ Agents: Dylan Murphy

By: Dylan Murphy, Director of Retail Leasing

For decades the retail corridor along Times Square's Eighth Avenue has been transforming away from its seedy "Red Light District" past. This year, two of the buildings that house two of the last handful of adult video stores in the district have come on the market and two major development sites have been slated for luxury hotel development. This, along with the rebirth of Icon, the massive Nomura lease at Worldwide Plaza and Microsoft's landmark lease at 11 Times Square has firmly secured the corridor's future as a premier global destination for dining and hospitality.

Click here for full article

Agents: Dylan Murphy

By: Massey Knakal Director of Sales Evan J. Daniel

Well it's about time!

 Anyone that has invested or lived in Long Island City and Astoria during the last few years can certainly relate to that statement. A 2001 zoning change to allow for a greater density of mixed-use and residential development led to the growth of a neighborhood that ran rampant through the peak years of 2006 and 2007. Long Island City was among the hardest hit when the economic downturn set in from late 2008 through 2010, a period where the vibrant growth of the area appeared almost frozen in time. Residents moving into their new homes were surrounded by stalled developments, abandoned warehouses, and vacant stores. The reality of the neighborhood they joined was an incomplete picture of where it was going just years before.

Read full article here

Neighborhoods: Long Island City

Vice President of Sales Swain Weiner discusses some factors that make Queens a natural for the conservative investor with a long-term strategy:

QUEENS FITS INTO A CONSERVATIVE INVESTMENT STRATEGY

Neighborhoods: Woodside, Sunnyside, Ditmars, Steinway, Jackson Heights, Astoria, Corona

The downtown Manhattan market below Canal Street had 10 sales in 2009 vs.19 in 2008 vs. 46 in 2007. That represents about 47% decrease from 2008 and 78% decrease in volume from 2007. 

Neighborhoods: Chinatown, Financial District, TriBeCa

The East Village/Lower East Side Rezoning Plan was approved yesterday after a lengthy 3 year process. From a statement released by Mayor Bloomberg Wednesday afternoon:

"The new zoning of 111 blocks within the two areas will preserve the unique character of the neighborhoods by establishing height limits for the first time that will prevent new out-of-scale towers from undermining the existing building stock and established streetscapes. At the same time, the plan will create opportunities for new and affordable housing where appropriate on wider streets. It is expected to spur the production of 1,670 additional housing units over the next ten years, including 560 units permanently affordable to low- and middle-income families."

More information about the rezoning can be found here http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/evles/evles4.shtml

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to myself at 212-660-7754 or Michael DeCheser at 212-660-7772.

Neighborhoods: East Village, Lower East Side/ Agents: Michael DeCheser