The portfolio is comprised of 42 buildings with a total of 403 units. As part of the transaction, Fairstead has entered into new regulatory agreements with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development to ensure all of the 403 units will remain affordable housing for the next 30 years. Fairstead plans to implement a capital improvement program to modernize and enhance all of the properties that will include common area improvements, in-unit repairs, energy system upgrades and other capital renovations.

NEW YORK CITY—Deals on Fifth Avenue and in Times Square garnered the top retail transactions of 2016 at the Real Estate Board of New York's 19th Annual Retail Deal of the Year Cocktail Party held at Club 101 earlier this week.

Joanne Podell, executive vice chairman at Cushman & Wakefield, was honored with “The Most Ingenious Retail Deal of the Year” that demonstrates exceptional broker acumen for her deal “From the Back of a Napkin to a Flagship: How Ice Cream Sundaes Brought Nike to 650 Fifth Avenue.” This is her third time earning a REBNY Retail Deal of the Year award.

Podell brokered one of the largest transactions for a single-brand retailer in Manhattan, a nearly 70,000-square-foot deal to relocate Nike's flagship store, Niketown, from 6 East 57th St. to 650 Fifth Ave. between Victoria's Secret and Zara.

Kenji R. Ota, executive director at Cushman & Wakefield, won “The Most Significant Retail Deal of the Year,” which recognizes the most significant retail deal in its overall characteristics and importance to the New York City retail market, for “Finding the End Zone – How the NFL Connected with Cirque du Soleil for a Times Square Touchdown” at 701 Seventh Ave., also known as 20 Times Square. This is Ota's first time winning a REBNY Retail Deal of the Year award.

Ota was honored for playing an integral role in connecting an unlikely pair, the National Football League and Cirque du Soleil to collaborate on a more than 40,000-square-foot retail lease spanning four floors at The Witkoff Group's 20 Times Square new development. Ota, along with former colleague Eva Santiago, helped navigate multifaceted challenges to set the stage for the NFL Experience Times Square, Cirque du Soleil's first official experiential sports venture.

NEW FREEDOM, PA—ROCK Commercial Real Estate reports that Penn-Mar Human Services has purchased a 35,000-square-foot, Class A flex building located at 888 Far Hills Drive in New Freedom, PA. The property was acquired for approximately $2.99 million from Harlowe R. Prindle. Kevin Hodge of ROCK Commercial Real Estate assisted Penn-Mar Human Services while Dave Bode, also of ROCK Commercial, assisted the seller. The upscale industrial warehouse is located within Stonebridge Business Park.

SPRING VALLEY, NY—The Goldstein Group has arranged the sale of two shopping centers in Spring Valley, according to Chuck Lanyard, president of Paramus, NJ-based the Goldstein Group.

The properties sold were: 135 Route 59, a multi-tenanted retail center; Scott Milich, sales associate of The Goldstein Group, represented the owner, RJS 59 LLC, in the transaction and 96 Route 59, a multi-tenanted shopping center. Milich represented the owner, SV Associates 96 LLC, and the purchaser, Caseres Associates, in the transaction. No financial details for both transactions were released.

NEW YORK CITY—In a transaction arranged by the Savitt Partners team of Elliot Zelinger and Greg Lafayette, the law firm Lee Anav Chung White Kim Ruger & Richter LLP, one of the largest minority-owned law firms in New York State, has leased 8,264 square feet of office space at 99 Madison Ave. Owned by the Mayflower Agency Co., Inc., the NoMad office property has an asking rent of $64 per-square-foot.

The boutique national law firm will be relocating its New York City offices from 156 Fifth Ave. to the entire eighth floor at 99 Madison Ave. The ownership has committed to building out the office space to LACWKRR's specification, with a move-in completion date of Jan. 1, 2018. Matthew Kiamie of the Mayflower Agency acted on behalf of the ownership in the negotiations.

PARSIPPANY, NJ—Transwestern reports the New Jersey chapter of the Building Owners and Managers Association has recognized 300 Kimball Drive in Parsippany with its highest honor, the Grand TOBY award. Transwestern, which provides leasing and management services for the 400,147-square-foot property, received the prestigious honor during a recent awards banquet at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

Bestowed by BOMA annually, The Outstanding Building of the Year awards recognize excellence in building management, operational efficiency, tenant retention, emergency planning and community impact across numerous categories. The prestigious Grand TOBY is given to the winning property that scores highest overall across all criteria. The Transwestern management team consists of VP Erika Toscani, senior property manager Monique Hughes, assistant property manager Eva Karcz and engineers Ted Masters and Harold Whetham, while James Postell, partner and market leader and managing director Matthew McDonough lead leasing services for the property.

NEW YORK CITY—UA Builders Group, a privately held national construction firm headquartered in New York City, announced it was awarded Propco Holdings' ground-up development project located in the West Bronx neighborhood of New York City at 2061-2065 Ryer Ave. The 12-story residential building totals approximately 120,000 square feet.

NEW YORK CITY—With office leasing activity continuing at a brisk pace at 747 Third Ave., the William Kaufman Organization announced that four companies have completed long-term lease expansions, extensions and new leases totaling 59,626 square feet at the 39-story class A office tower in the Grand Central district.

In the largest transaction, media technology company ITN Holdings, LLC, formerly known as ITN Networks, finalized a 15-year lease for an additional 15,100 square feet on the entire 11^th floor of the building. The new space is in addition to the 34,782 square feet of office space it currently occupies on the entire fifth floor and portions of the third and fourth floors. With the new lease, the firm's total presence at the property grows to 49,882 square feet.

Also signing at the property is hedge fund sponsor Geosphere Capital Management, LLC, which completed a three-year, 4,557-square-foot lease renewal on a portion of the 26^th floor; T&R Productions LLC, which finalized a new, three-year 3,132-square-foot lease on a portion of the third floor; and financial planner O&M Partners LLC, which signed a two-year, 2,055-square-foot lease renewal on a portion of the 15^th floor.

PHILADELPHIA—The Harman Group celebrated the groundbreaking of The National, a six-story, 192-unit apartment building, on June 9th. The building is being constructed at the former site of the National Products Co., a restaurant supply company, which was an integral part of Old City, Philadelphia.

The multi-family residential project will include retail and amenity spaces on the first floor, residential apartments, and a two-level underground parking garage.

The Harman Group is providing structural engineering services for this project, which is being developed by The Buccini/Pollin Group, Inc., in partnership with AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust. The structural system designed by The Harman Group will use structural steel for the first floor and parking garage and cold-formed bearing walls and wood trusses for the upper five floors.

NEW YORK CITY—Newmark Holdings reports that independent consulting firm ClearBridge Compensation Group signed a 3,956-square-foot lease on the 32^nd floor of 515 Madison Ave., while Dental Serenity of Manhattan took 3,152 square feet of medical office space. The 42-story office Art Deco property—also known as the Dumont Building—is located at 53rd Street and Madison Avenue.

The announcement was made by co-CEOs Eric Gural and Brian Steinwurtzel of Newmark Holdings. Martin McGrath represented Newmark Holdings in the transactions. Kyle Ciminelli of Newmark Knight Frank acted on behalf of ClearBridge.

News & Notables

NEW YORK CITY—Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. celebrated the grand opening of Alexandria LaunchLab at the Alexandria Center for Life Science—New York City on June 13^th and awarded its inaugural Alexandria LaunchLabs' $100,000 Entrepreneurship Prize.

The grand opening was held in connection with the NYC Life Science Innovation Showcase, an annual event organized by Alexandria, in partnership with the New York Academic Consortium. The Innovation Showcase provides select NYC-based academic entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their work to biopharma executives, investors and other community stakeholders.

Alexandria LaunchLabs is a full-service startup platform created to satisfy key unmet needs for turn-key office/laboratory space and access to strategic risk capital for seed-stage life science companies, many of which have spun out of NYC's academic medical institutions. To date, 13 initial member companies have been accepted to Alexandria LaunchLabs from a competitive pool of over 115 applicants.

NORTH BERGEN, NJ—Post Brothers recently announced the opening of the leasing office at The Dutchess in North Bergen. A collection of 320 world-class apartments accompanied by an assortment of Paris-Forino-designed amenity spaces and common areas. Set on the western bank of the Hudson River at 7601 River Road, The Duchess comprises a mix of spacious studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments that offer sweeping views of Manhattan.

In addition to being the first New Jersey project for Post Brothers, which is best known for its luxury rental projects in Philadelphia residential market, The Duchess also marks the first New Jersey project for Forino as well.

BOSTON – Skanska USA has been awarded a $113-million contract to provide construction services to create Boston College's new, four-story, 244,000-square-foot Recreation Center. When completed in summer 2019, the facility will enhance the school's intercollegiate, intramural and club sports programs.