Manhattan
For office furniture giant Knoll Inc., Midtown is now back in style. The workplace and residential furnishings company will move from the Google Building at 111 Eighth Ave. in Midtown South to a 50,000-square-foot space at 1330 Avenue of the Americas between 53rd and 54th Streets, owned by Scott Rechler’s RXR Realty.
Under the deal, Knoll is taking the second, third and fourth floors at the 40-story, 534,000-square-foot class A tower for office space and a showroom. Once the company moves in during the first quarter of 2013, Knoll’s lease will bump the building to 90% occupancy. The company was represented by Martin Horner and Scott Cahaly of Jones Lang LaSalle.
Also on the architectural front, the design competition for 425 Park Ave. is heating up. After launching the initiative in April, L&L Holding Co. named Foster + Partners (Lord Norman Foster), Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (Lord Richard Rogers), OMA (Rem Koolhaas) and Zaha Hadid Architects as finalists to construct a new, state-of-the-art, 650,000-square-foot office tower on the site, making it the first big development Park Avenue has seen in more than 50 years. The winner will be chosen in October.
In other office news, social media LinkedIn Corp. is expanding its space at the Empire State Building by 33%, adding 10,400 square feet on the 24th floor to its existing 32,000 square feet on the 25th floor, according to Malkin Holdings.
The new space is slated for occupancy in early 2013. LinkedIn leased the entire 25th floor in 2011. Sacha Zarba of CBRE represented LinkedIn in the lease negotiations. William Cohen, Ryan Kass and Shanae Ursini of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the landlord.
On the investment sales front, Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services has sold 334 East 6th Street, an 11-unit mixed-use property in the East Village, according to J.D. Parker, VP and regional manager of the firm’s Manhattan office. The asset commanded a sales price of $3.2 million and a 4.5% cap rate.
Peter Von Der Ahe, first vice president of investments, Joe Koicim, vice president of investments, and David Lloyd investment associate at M&M’s Manhattan office, handled this transaction on behalf of the seller, a private investor. City records indicate that the seller was Croman Realty Co.
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Long Island
Industry veterans and former founding partners of DJM Realty Andrew Graiser and Emilio Amendola are starting a new venture. The duo – who have worked together for nearly two decades mitigating over $4.5 billion of lease liability and selling more than $1 billion of owned property – have launched A&G Realty Partners, a commercial estate consulting, advisory and investment group based in Melville, NY. Under the new flag, A&G will invest in retail, office and industrial assets, and will also purchase or co-invest mortgages.
Also on the mortgage front, HFF arranged financing and joint venture equity for the development of New Village, a 291-unit, mixed-use, transit-oriented development adjacent to the Patchogue Long Island Rail Road station in the downtown here. The firm worked on behalf of the owner, TRITEC Real Estate Co. to secure the debt and equity financing with an account advised by UBS Global Asset Management.
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Connecticut
After assembling an in-house green team, the Landis Group has achieved Energy Star recognition from the US Environmental Protect Agency for its 500,000-square-foot class A office building at 400 Atlantic St. in the heart of Stamford’s central business district. The building, originally constructed in 1980 as Champion Paper’s world headquarters, is 90% occupied by tenants such as UBS, American Express, the Santander Group and Harman Kardon.
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Boston
Brokerage Elliot & Co. LLC has negotiated a new 50,000-square-foot lease to GZA Geo Environmental Inc. on behalf of CMI Property Inc. at 249 Vanderbilt Ave. Norwood, MA. GZA, a geotechnical engineering, environmental consulting and remediation services firm, will take full occupancy of the property in the spring of 2013. Until that time, GZA will remain at its current One Edgewater Drive location in Norwood, MA. GZA was represented in the negotiation by John E. Butterworth, EVP/Principal of CBRE New England.
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