NEW YORK CITY—Before 2015 drew to a close, CWCapital Asset Management completed its $5.3-billion sale of Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town to a partnership of the Blackstone Group LP and Ivanhoé Cambridge; Exeter Property Group traded a $3.2-bilion industrial portfolio to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and PSP; and Maefield Development acquired the Doubletree Guest Suites Times Square in a $540-million purchase from Sunstone Hotel Investors. A key player in all three December transactions was Jonathan Mechanic, chairman of the real estate department at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobs, whose firm provided legal counsel to the sellers in the Exeter and Stuy-Town deals and to the buyer in the Doubletree sale.

However, as Mechanic points out in an interview with GlobeSt.com, these were hardly the only sizable deals executed by New York City-based players last year. And as the new year gets underway, he's bullish on the prospect of more where these came from. Here Mechanic EXCLUSIVELY shares insights on what made these deals happen.

GlobeSt.com: When we're looking at large transactions such as Exeter and Stuy-Town coming to fruition in the current environment, what are the expects among sellers and buyers?

Jonathan Mechanic: Sellers understand that it's time to realize the value on the assets. Certainly in Peter Cooper/Stuy-Town, CWCapital had spent time and money on improving the property. The market for New York residential is obviously very strong, and there had been a number of disputes among various lenders that had been resolved. Blackstone was perceived as a very strong bidder due to its capacity to harness the financing and the equity to acquire an asset of that size. The fact that it all came together so quickly was a very impressive feat on both sides: the seller's for getting it together and selling it so expeditiously and the buyer's side for putting up the financing, getting the government agreements in place, dealing with the tenants' association and having it all come together and close before year's end.

GlobeSt.com: It stands to reason that a sense that the time was right was also a motivating factor for Exeter Property Group.

Mechanic: Yes, you had a very talented team that amassed the portfolio over an extended period of time, always with the notion that there would be an ultimate exit. There was keen interest in the portfolio from the buyer, and it took a little more tme to get it together and get it done. But I thought they did a great job and I think they were very happy with the execution.

There were a number of other major transactions like that over the course of the year that reaped some of the benefit of the value that had been created. Look at the $4-billion deal that RXR did with Blackstone on its portfolio of six office properties. (Note: RXR had acquired the portfolio in stages beginning in 2009.)  I also think that what RXR did was to create a long-term relationship with Blackstone, so when RXR acquired 230 Park Ave., it went to Blackstone and Blackstone became a partner on what was a different type of asset than some of the buildings  in the six-building portfolio.

GlobeSt.com: Looking at the buyer component in both the Exeter deal and Blackstone's partner on the Stuyvesant Town deal, Ivanhoé Cambridge, we're dealing with very well-funded foreign investors. In December we had some expansion of the Foreign Investment in Real Properties Tax Act; do you see this helping foreign investors to step up their willingness to take on large transactions?

Mechanic: It certainly bodes well for foreign investment in the US. We just represented another offshore sovereign who put up $250 million of equity on a very high end residential development in New York, and we also did a deal with China Life  and Related Cos. on a major investment in Hudson Yards. I think you're going to see more and more of that money, whether it's coming from Canada or Asia, looking to invest in the States. The US is seen as a very stable economy, a safe place to have your money. So we're going to see a lot of that money coming over here.

GlobeSt.com: Along with more foreign capital, what will be some of the other themes we'll be seeing in 2016 as far as investments are concerned?

Mechanic: Particularly in the gateway markets, there's tremendous demand for product. If an office building, particularly a trophy building, comes on line as being available, there's tremendous interest. For example, in '15 we also worked on the sale of 32 Old Slip, which was a million square foot building in Lower Manhattan purchased by RXR in a particularly  creative financing. You had people with 1031 money who ended up acquiring the underlying fee, and they took a 99-year lease, and that facilitated them being able to pay a purchase price that was on the higher end of the spectrum. That was a creative way to get it done.

We also represented a joint venture between Murray Hill Properties and Clarion Partners buying 180 Maiden Lane from SL Green Realty Corp. It needed the lobby renovation, it needed the upgrade of the amenities, and it's coming into a market where there's a lot of activity in Lower Manhattan. We're representing 21st Century Fox and News Corp. in a potential 1.5-million-square-foot lease at 2 World Trade Center. It would complete the Trade Center; it would be the last building to be constructed.

I'm particularly bullish on what's going on. I love the market in the States, particularly the gateway cities; I think what's going on in New York is extraordinary, particularly Hudson Yards and Manhattan West. There are so many things going on right now that we're happy to be a part of.