News

Massey Knakal Retail Leasing Services has secured a retail lease for the 1,000 square foot retail space on the ground floor of 484 Ninth Avenue. The building is located on the northeast corner of 37th Street and Ninth Avenue in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen. Dunkin' Donuts will occupy this space.

The unit has an additional 1,000 square feet of basement space and 25 feet of frontage on Ninth Avenue and 37 feet of frontage on West 37th Street. The space also benefits from significant pedestrian traffic due to its close proximity to Penn Station and Port Authority.

Ryan Horvath, Director of Retail Leasing at Massey Knakal, represented the landlord in the signing of this long-term lease. “When we began marketing the space, we sat down with the owner and asked him to list his top five tenants. Dunkin' Donuts was his number one choice and we were very proud to deliver,” said Horvath

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Neighborhoods: Midtown West

A mixed-use building at 1429 Third Avenue, located between East 80th and 81st Streets on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $3,500,000.

The four-story building is approximately 3,381 square feet and has nearly 7,400 square feet of air rights remaining. The ground floor is built full and encumbered by a retail tenant until 2022.  The remaining floors are built 48’ feet deep and are occupied by free market residential tenants.  The sales price equates to approximately $1,035 per square foot.

“The property is a stable asset that offers the owners the immediate opportunity to reconfigure and/or increase the residential square footage while enjoying the steady income from the retail tenant,” said Massey Knakal Vice President of Sales Thomas D. Gammino Jr.

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Neighborhoods: Upper East Side

Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained on an exclusive basis to sell a newly constructed three-story commercial building at 126-130 Delancey Street. The building is located on the northwest corner of Delancey Street and Norfolk Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The asking price is $22,750,000.

The building is approximately 22,875 square feet above grade with 76 feet of frontage on Delancey Street. It is currently occupied by The Children's Place, Payless Shoe Source, and The Comprehensive Center for Rehabilitation. National credit tenants, Payless Shoe Source and The Children’s Place, occupy all of the ground floor with approximately 3,300 square feet and 3,700 square feet, respectively. The Children’s Place and The Comprehensive Center for Rehabilitation have lower level space consisting of approximately 2,500 square feet and 3,000 square feet, respectively. The Comprehensive Center for Rehabilitation has an entrance on Norfolk Street and occupies the entire second and third floors, totaling approximately 15,875 square feet.

The building is directly across the street from the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area which was recently approved by Community Board 3. In addition, the property is right in front of an entrance/exit to the F, J, M, Z trains at the Essex Street-Delancey Station. Nearby retailers include Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonalds, Duane Reade, Bank of America, T-Mobile, Sprint and Starbucks.

For more information on this listing, contact Massey Knakal Director of Sales Michael F. DeCheser at 212.696.2500.

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Neighborhoods: Lower East Side/ Agents: Michael DeCheser

A multifamily brownstone at 66 East 127th Street, located between Madison and Park Avenues in Central Harlem, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $650,000.

The three-story property is approximately 3,489 square feet and sits on an 18.75’ x 99.92’ lot. The zoning allows for a total of 6,443 buildable square feet. It is classified as an SRO with 2 Class-A units and 9 Class-B units. The property is located a few blocks from the 125th Street retail corridor, Marcus Garvey Park as well as subways and the Metro-North.  The sale price equates to approximately $186 per square foot.

“Due to the high demand for brownstones in Harlem, we were able to generate a great deal of interest in this property, which resulted in all-cash offer at the asking price,” said Massey Knakal Director of Sales Lev Kimyagarov who exclusively handled this transaction with Vice President of Sales Thomas D. Gammino Jr.

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Neighborhoods: Harlem

His selling point was simple: “Take this property, turn it into a Class A property by way of a rental or by way of a condo,” said Mr. Palmese.

Aided by low interest rates and flush with cash, developer Doug Steiner of Steiner Studios closed on the 60-unit property for $24.5 million in May.

“This was a very rare property in that everyone is looking for a conversion or a vacant building,” said Mr. Palmese.

His intimate knowledge of the market has helped position him as one of the most prolific brokers in Brooklyn. Of the $1.5 billion in building sales in Brooklyn recorded in the first half of 2012, Mr. Palmese and his team of three full-time salesmen have accounted for approximately 8 percent.
He sold 313 Gold Street for $19 million, 109 Gold Street for $14.5 million and 131-137 Emerson Place for $13 million, among several of his most notable deals so far in 2012.

What’s attracting buyers to Brooklyn is...

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Neighborhoods: Bay Ridge, Downtown Brooklyn/ Agents: Stephen Palmese

A development site / user building at 214-11-13 35th Avenue, located between 214th Place and Bell Boulevard in the Bayside neighborhood of Queens, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $1,822,500.

The site is a 19,500 square foot lot with an existing 5,740 square foot one-story building. The remaining 13,760 square feet of land is currently being used for parking and outdoor activity. The prior use of this property has been a child care facility for the Bayside YMCA. The site is located just a half-block to Bell Boulevard, all neighborhood amenities and public transportation.

Massey Knakal Director of Sales Stephen R. Preuss exclusively handled this transaction.

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Neighborhoods: Bayside/ Agents: Stephen Preuss

An elevator apartment building at 118-122 West 23rd Street aka The Milan, located between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $39,250,000 or approximately $750 per square foot.
 
The modern, 15-story elevator building was constructed in 1988 and contains 42 apartments and ground floor retail. With a mixture of three, two, and one-bedroom units, the apartments had recently undergone extensive renovations featuring condo-level finishes. Each unit has its own outdoor terrace, high ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Nine apartments have working fireplaces. Capital One Bank is the primary retail tenant, occupying most of the 5,904 square foot ground floor and the entire 4,535 square foot lower level.
 
“This sale is a powerful testament to the current strength of the Chelsea/Flatiron rental market,” said Massey Knakal Senior Vice President Paul Smadbeck, who exclusively handled this assignment along with Director of Sales Brock Emmetsberger and Partner James Nelson. “It was significant that the winning bidder on this trophy property was not a converter, but a sophisticated operator of luxury rental housing who intends to keep it as a rental and produce additional value through expert management, higher level amenities, and new upgrades,” added Smadbeck.

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Neighborhoods: Chelsea

A mixed-use development site at 2977-89 and 2997 Webster Avenue, located in the Bedford Park neighborhood of the Bronx, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $2,525,000.

The site offers 125 feet of contiguous frontage on Webster Avenue as well as an additional 50 feet of frontage at 2997 Webster Avenue. Together, the lots total approximately 88,000 buildable square feet. The site was part of a recent rezoning to encourage residential development in Bedford Park/Norwood. It is located across the street from Pioneer grocery store, steps to PS 20 and the New York Botanical Gardens, close to Fordham University and public transportation, including the Metro-North line.

“New York City Department of City Planning approved the up-zoning of Bedford Park/Norwood in March of 2011 with the objective of ‘shaping Webster Avenue into a vibrant, inviting, and walkable residential and commercial corridor.’  This is a prime example of a developer taking advantage of the higher density re-zoning, and building in a great North Bronx neighborhood close to transit, cultural amenities, and shopping,” said Massey Knakal Director of Sales Karl Brumback.

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Agents: Karl Brumback

Massey Knakal Retail Leasing Services has secured a retail lease for the 1,128 square foot store on the ground floor of 1324 Lexington Avenue. The building is located on the northwest corner of Lexington Avenue and 88th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

The retail space has an additional 535 square feet of basement space, has 10 foot ceiling heights and 30 feet of frontage on Lexington Avenue. The space will be occupied by The Green Café.

The space also benefits from its close proximity to national tenants such as CVS, Starbucks, Le Pain Quotidien, Best Buy, H&M and Petco, as well as the 4, 5, and 6 subway stop at Lexington Avenue and 86th Street.
 
Jill Lovatt, Director of Retail Leasing at Massey Knakal, represented the landlord in the signing of this long-term lease. “The Green Cafe is the perfect tenant for this corner on Lexington Avenue. We had a tremendous amount of interest in this space and the ownership is very pleased to have Green Cafe as their new tenant,” said Lovatt.

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Neighborhoods: Upper East Side/ Agents: Jill Lovatt

Massey Knakal Retail Leasing Services has been retained by Bazbaz Development as exclusive agent to secure tenants for three retail suites at 101 WEST 87, a new luxury residential building located at the northwest corner of 87th Street and Columbus Avenue (560-568 Columbus Avenue) in Manhattan’s Upper West Side neighborhood.

101 WEST 87 contains six retail suites, three of which are available for immediate occupancy. Suite B is approximately 520 square feet.  Suite D comprises approximately 1,450 square feet at grade and 1,200 square feet of basement space. Suite F is approximately 970 square feet at street level and contains 900 square feet on the lower level.  Combined, the three retail suites offer close to 65 feet of frontage on Columbus Avenue.  

David Chkheidze, Director of Retail Leasing at Massey Knakal said “A retail tenant would successfully draw from a well established base of neighborhood residents and close proximity to Central Park with a signature store at 101 WEST 87, which is located in one of the highest foot trafficked sections on Columbus Avenue.”  

For more information, contact David Chkheidze at 212.660.7792.

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Neighborhoods: Upper West Side

Massey Knakal Capital Services is pleased to announce the closing of a loan for a 15,000 square-foot retail property located on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. The $21,000,000 non-recourse loan was fixed for ten years at 4.5% at a loan-to-value of 70.0% and funded by Wells Fargo Bank.

“This loan was a cash-out refinance of a mortgage originally held by Anglo Irish Bank,” stated Managing Director Garrett W. Thelander, who came onboard to head Massey Knakal’s Capital Services division early last year after his role at Anglo as Executive Vice President.

“This loan was a cash-out refinance of a $17,000,000 acquisition loan that was maturing this year. The Sponsor, Aurora Capital Associates, had done a great job repositioning the retail by upgrading the tenancy and increasing the rents to market-rate. The high debt-per-square-foot ($1,400) is a testament to the strength of the Lincoln Road retail corridor and the Sponsor’s proven track-record of managing high-end urban retail assets,” said Director Morris Betesh who exclusively handled this transaction.  In addition, Betesh states that the Lincoln Road retail corridor has retained its appeal to a variety of retailers and has the tightest occupancy level in the Florida market, with rents having recovered to their pre-recession highs.

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A walk-up building a 111 East 77th Street, located between Lexington and Park Avenues on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $6,100,000.

The three-story building is approximately 5,300 square feet and sits on a 25’ x 102’ lot.  The property is currently configured as a residential duplex above a medical office space. The office space currently occupies the ground floor and the majority of the finished basement. The sale price equates to approximately $1,150 per square foot and $468 per buildable square foot.

“The building was bought by Lennox Hill Hospital, who owns the two adjacent buildings to the East as well as the Hospital across the street. The purchase of this property enables them to add over 13,000 square feet to their potential site by taking advantage of the community facility bonus FAR of 5.1 in Community Board 8 should they ultimately develop,” said Massey Knakal Vice President of Sales Thomas Gammino Jr., who exclusively represented the seller in this transaction.

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Neighborhoods: Upper East Side

An elevator apartment building at 118-122 West 23rd Street aka The Milan, located between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $39,250,000 or approximately $750 per square foot.
 
The modern, 15-story elevator building was constructed in 1988 and contains 42 apartments and ground floor retail. With a mixture of three, two, and one-bedroom units, the apartments had recently undergone extensive renovations featuring condo-level finishes. Each unit has its own outdoor terrace, high ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Nine apartments have working fireplaces. Capital One Bank is the primary retail tenant, occupying most of the 5,904 square foot ground floor and the entire 4,535 square foot lower level.
 
“This sale is a powerful testament to the current strength of the Chelsea/Flatiron rental market”, said Massey Knakal Senior Vice President Paul Smadbeck, who exclusively handled this assignment along with Director of Sales Brock Emmetsberger and Partner James Nelson. “It was significant that the winning bidder on this trophy property was not a converter, but a sophisticated operator of luxury rental housing who intends to keep it as a rental and produce additional value through expert management, higher level amenities, and new upgrades,” added Smadbeck.

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Neighborhoods: Chelsea

A four-story walk-up apartment building at 310 West 90th Street, located between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $3,150,000.

The building is approximately 5,780 square feet and sits on a 20’ x 100’ lot. At the time of the sale the building was configured as nine rental apartment units, of which, one was rent controlled, and eight were rent stabilized. Additionally, there is a private south facing garden. In recent years, the roof, boiler, and mailboxes have been replaced and the lobby has been upgraded. The sale price equates to approximately $544 per square foot.

“The property was purchased by an investor who closed on an all-cash basis within 30 days of coming to market,” said Massey Knakal First Vice President of Sales Hall Oster who exclusively handled this transaction with Senior Vice President of Sales Paul Smadbeck.

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Neighborhoods: Upper West Side

Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained on an exclusive basis to sell a development site at 315-325 St. Mark’s Place, located on the northeast corner of St. Marks Place and Hyatt Street in the St. George Special Purpose District in North Shore of Staten Island.

The site sits on an L-shaped lot of approximately 37,673 square feet, allowing a total buildable square footage of 190,000. The site is currently used as a parking lot and lies within the C4-2 zone that allows for free market condo/rental development, subsidized/affordable housing, and retail/commercial redevelopment. It is conveniently located three blocks from the Staten Island Ferry, allowing for easy access into Manhattan, and in the prime business district with Boro Hall, along with other municipalities surrounding the immediate area. A new 182,000 square feet, five-story New York State Supreme & Civil Court House is scheduled to open January 2013.

For more information on this listing, please contact Massey Knakal Chairman Bob Knakal at 212.696.2500 or First Vice President of Sales Michael Schneider at 718.307.6527.

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Neighborhoods: Staten Island

A walk-up building at 150 Henry Street, located between Jefferson and Rutgers Streets on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, was sold in an all-cash transaction.

The five-story building is approximately 5,400 square feet and sits on a 20’ x 78’ lot.  The building is opposite Strauss Square, providing the front apartments with great light and air. There are nine units; seven one-bedroom units, one studio, and one two-bedroom apartment. Additionally, the Certificate of Occupancy allows for one retail unit and one apartment on the lower level. Two of the units are rent stabilized while the remaining units are vacant.

“We were thrilled to represent this estate to maximize the proceeds for the not-for-profit recipients,” said Massey Knakal Partner James P. Nelson who exclusively handled this transaction with Massey Knakal Director of Sales Michael DeCheser. “What was once a rather quiet location now seems to be on everyone’s radar,” added DeCheser.

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Neighborhoods: Lower East Side/ Agents: Michael DeCheser

Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained on an exclusive basis to sell a commercial building located at 149 West 27th Street, located mid-block on the north side of West 27th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.

The subject four-story commercial building features one elevator and consists of four floor through units comprised of one retail unit on the ground floor and three commercial units above. One of the tenants is on a month-to-month lease allowing for immediate user potential. Coupled with two of the remaining three leases expiring in 2014 and the third lease expiring in October 2016, this investment presents an ideal future development opportunity in the heart of Chelsea.
With a buildable square feet of approximately 27,570, this investment presents an ideal future development opportunity in the heart of Chelsea.

“This property represents a great user or development opportunity in a dynamic neighborhood,” stated Massey Knakal Chairman Bob Knakal who is handling this transaction along with Sales Team Manager Jonathan Hageman. They can be reached at 212.696.2500.
Massey Knakal specializes in the sale of investment and user

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Neighborhoods: Chelsea

A walk-up apartment building at 40 Morton Street, located between Seventh Avenue South and Hudson Street in the West Village, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $5,435,000.

The building has five stories with fifteen residential units and one lower level storage space with a half bathroom. The residential units are configured as five one-bedroom apartments and ten two-bedroom apartments. Fourteen of the apartments are rent stabilized and one is rent controlled. Located in the highly desirable Greenwich Village neighborhood, the property lies on a tree-lined street and is within direct walking distance to multiple downtown destinations and attractions. The building is approximately 8,884 square feet which equates to approximately $611 per square foot.

“With a short supply of downtown multifamily properties to compete against, we were able to produce almost 20 offers and a fully executed contract for 40 Morton Street in just one month,” said Massey Knakal Director of Sales Brock Emmetsberger who exclusively handled the transaction with Massey Knakal Partner James P. Nelson.

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Neighborhoods: Greenwich Village

A portfolio of six multifamily buildings in Brooklyn’s Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $7,325,000. The buildings, which are all in or within close proximity to the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District, are located at 654 Putnam Avenue, 419-21 Marcus Garvey Boulevard, 319 Malcolm X Boulevard, and 804 and 814 Macon Street.

The portfolio includes one nine-unit building, four eight-unit buildings, and one six-unit building totaling approximately 37,950 square feet. The portfolio consists of 47 apartments, of which 38 have been fully renovated with brand new kitchens, bathrooms and separate utilizes.

“At close to $200 PSF, this package of renovated buildings offered the scale required by a new wave of patient investors who were happy to pay a premium to gain exposure to this well-positioned neighborhood,” said Massey Knakal Director of Sales Michael Amirkhanian who exclusively handled this transaction.

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Neighborhoods: Bedford Stuyvesant

Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained on an exclusive basis to sell an office building located at 4055 Tenth Avenue, located on the northeast corner of East 216th Street and Tenth Avenue in Northern Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood. The asking price is $35,000,000.

The properly is a single-story office building that was constructed in 2007. It is approximately 60,000 square feet and is leased on a long-term basis to New York City’s Human Resources Administration. This lease provides strong rents, as well as generous reimbursement provisions to protect potential investors from growth in operating expenses. In addition, the building’s roof is leased long-term to a local parking operator. With a successful parking operator and government tenant, this site offers investors a unique opportunity to acquire office property that generates long lasting cash flows with reliability comparable to government bonds, but at significantly higher yields.

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Neighborhoods: Inwood/ Agents: Robert Shapiro