A Crown Heights property that has seen several development proposals over the years traded hands again. A limited liability company tied to Yitzchok Schwartz’s YS Developers paid $64 million for 960 Franklin Avenue, which sits a block from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and is home to a former spice factory, as The Real Deal reported. [...]
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Leases
Bloomberg extends massive Lexington Avenue lease
Address: 731 Lexington Ave., Manhattan
Landlord: Alexander's Inc.
Tenant: Bloomberg LP
Lease size: 950,000 square feet
Lease length: 11 years
Asset type: Office
Read more about the deal here.
Law firm moves in Midtown
Address: 1251 Sixth Ave., Manhattan
Landlord: Mitsui Fudosan
Tenant: Sullivan & Worcester
Lease size: 42,000 square feet
Asset type: Office
Read more about the deal here.
Sales
Industrial parcels next to scrapped Amazon headquarters trade
Addresses: 45-40 and 45-28 Vernon Blvd., Queens
Seller: Quadrum Global, Baron Property Group and Simon Development
Buyer: ZD Jasper Realty
Sale price: $47 million
Asset type: Development sites
Brokers: JLL's Brendan Maddigan, Rob Hinckley, Michael Mazzara, Ethan Stanton, Winfield Clifford and Vickram Jambu represented the seller and the buyer.
Read more about the deal here.
Tennessee firm acquires Canarsie concrete plant
Address: 9814 Ditmas Ave., Brooklyn
Seller: Rossanna Bortone
Buyer: Jeff Hollingshead
Sale price: $12.5 million
Asset type: Industrial
Columbia University canceled its main commencement event slated for May 15 after weeks of tumult on campus, as protests spurred by the Israel-Hamas war upend the college graduation season.
The school is instead focusing on smaller-scale celebrations, saying that for many students they are more “meaningful to them and their families,” according to a statement Monday. “We will focus our resources on those school ceremonies and on keeping them safe, respectful, and running smoothly.”
Columbia is following the University of Southern California in abandoning one of the year’s marquee events while other schools review security plans amid a deepening crisis. Protests at Columbia culminated last week in a police raid and more than 100 arrests after dozens of people barricaded themselves inside a campus building. The school asked requested police to stay on its Morningside Heights campus until May 17, and access to the area has been restricted.
Colleges across the US have been thrown into turmoil since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, toppling university presidents, bitterly dividing students, and angering powerful alumni. Schools’ responses to behavior on campus have prompted investigations by Congress and stoked accusations of antisemitism, as well as concern about suppression of free speech for pro-Palestinian voices.
Columbia holds its commencement ceremony every year for thousands of graduates and their families, where each school gathers on the main quad to listen to the university president give an address. Individual schools will still hold their own separate ceremonies, in some cases at relocated venues including the Baker Athletics Complex in northern Manhattan.
“These past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for our community,” Columbia said. “Just as we are focused on making our graduation experience truly special, we continue to solicit student feedback and are looking at the possibility of a festive event on May 15 to take the place of the large, formal ceremony.”
USC also canceled its main commencement, citing security concerns. Instead, the private university in Los Angeles is opting for smaller ceremonies and holding a “Trojan Family Graduate Celebration” at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with drone shows, fireworks and the school’s marching band.
The city announced Monday it would make $5.3 million in new grant funding available for its business improvement districts, including a program meant to help the organizations deal with rising insurance premiums and cut down on the amount of frivolous lawsuits they face.
That $500,000 initiative is called the "trusted partner" program, and the department of Small Business Services will administer it. It will get rid of many requirements the BIDs face that the city characterizes as cumbersome, such as lowering the amount of agreements they need to review, sign and comply with. It will help provide greater clarity around what BIDs are and are not responsible for as well, which should in turn cut down on the number of lawsuits filed against them over issues they are not in charge of, such as snow removal.
These types of lawsuits are a huge issue for BIDs, causing them to face significant insurance premium hikes and outside counsel costs, said Mayor Eric Adams' administration.
The funding also includes $400,000 for the "connected corridors" program, which aims to support public design and lighting projects in parts of the city that have not traditionally seen much investment. The initial BIDs chosen for the program this year are the 161st Street BID near Yankee Stadium in the South Bronx, the Pitkin Avenue BID in Brownsville and the Sunnyside Shines BID in Sunnyside.
The money is part of the mayor's budget for fiscal year 2025 and represents a small fraction of the overall $112 billion plan. In general, the investments aim to help boost tourism and economic development while cutting red tape for BIDs.
The Adams administration timed the announcement to coincide with the city's second annual BID Day, an occasion meant to celebrate the city's 76 neighborhood organizations. The groups invested $194 million in their neighborhoods, collected almost 4 million trash bags worth of litter and held 4,561 public events drawing a total of 25.8 million people during fiscal year 2023, according to a recent report from the department of Small Business Services.
Michael Bloomberg’s media organization extended its lease at 731 Lexington Ave., providing a big win for the building’s owner shortly before its $500 million mortgage comes due.
The 11-year extension takes effect when Bloomberg LP’s existing lease for 950,000 square feet expires in 2029. The firm will retain all its space. Terms weren’t disclosed, but the media organization paid $132 per square foot in 2022, Crain’s reported.
“We’re glad to be staying,” said Bloomberg, CEO of Bloomberg LP and the former mayor, adding he’s a believer in “the power of in-person work to drive collaboration and innovation, and 731 Lexington’s open spaces help us do that.”
For the building’s owner, Alexander’s Inc., the timing couldn’t be better because the mortgage expires in June and will have to be refinanced, likely at a higher rate. Alexander’s, which is managed by Vornado Realty Trust, had asked lenders to extend the loan before signing the lease extension with Bloomberg, and Fitch Ratings lowered its outlook for the mortgage in February on the risk a deal might not get done. Signing the tenant that occupies 98% of the office space should make refinancing much easier.
The 1.3 million square-foot, 56-story building at the corner of East 59th Street was developed by Steven Roth and opened its doors in 2004. The top floors are residential, and Bloomberg’s global headquarters take up most of the rest.
“Bloomberg’s decision to remain is a testament to the rare and enduring quality of the tower,” Roth said in a statement.