Macy’s is consolidating into a building near its store by moving divisions from Midtown to a 120,000 square-foot spot under its wing at 112 W. 34th St.
The lease covers the third, fourth and seventh floors, with options to expand in the future that could even go to 400,000 square feet.
The Macy’s groups will be moving from the Hippodrome at 1080 Sixth Ave., which was a long-term lease that Macy’s acquired when parent Federated purchased Macy’s in 2005 for $11 billion in stock.
Scott Gottlieb of CBRE represented Macy’s, while a group led by Jimmy Kuhn and Scott Klau of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented building owner Empire State Realty Trust and had an asking rent in the mid-$50s per square foot.
The parties declined comment on the deal.
Investor Lloyd Goldman of BLDG Management has just spent $126 million buying The Nash in Murray Hill. The former Eastgate Tower Hotel at 222 E. 39th St. has already been gutted and renovated into a 191-unit luxury apartment house.
The sellers, an investment group led by Andrew Cohen and Jeffrey Goldberger of Atlas Capital and Rockpoint, had first purchased the building’s non-performing debt. The group then restructured the financials through a pre-packaged bankruptcy, allowing them to take over the fixer-upper.
They then poured roughly $20 million into improvements to turn the hotel rooms into one- to three-bedroom units while upgrading the retail, common areas and the lobby.
Earlier this year, the redevelopers hired Brian Ezratty and Scott Ellard of Eastern Consolidated to sell the building, and Goldman closed on it last week.
Ezratty and Ellard also leased the 100-car garage to Champion Parking, while the second through fifth floors have also been leased by Oakwood corporate housing.
We also hear that Normandy is under contract to sell 1370 Broadway to the State of Florida Pension Fund, with Invesco as their adviser, for $186 million.
The building was marketed through Darcy Stacom and Bill Shanahan at CBRE.
Normandy acquired the building less than two years ago for $123 million and has since beautifully renovated the lobby, bumped up leasing and rents into the mid-$50s and thus boosted its value to achieve the current pricing.
“We see hedge funds coming into Chelsea to pay $120 a [square] foot to be on the top of these buildings,” Michael Phillips of Jamestown said.
Two newly redeveloped Midtown South office projects are testing the $125-plus-per-square-foot waters.
The larger One Soho Square at 233 Spring St. and 161 Sixth Ave. is being redeveloped by Larry Gluck’s Stellar Management and Rockpoint by bringing together the two buildings with a new central core, along with some newly developed penthouse floors designed by Gensler.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Josh Kuriloff and Jodi Roberts are working on the assignment and showing off lovely bright spaces of 26,000 square feet to 33,000 square feet each, with either original herringbone or polished concrete floors and some original bricks on the walls that have asking rents in the mid-$80s per square foot.
But they are launching three penthouse floors. These have 20,000 square feet to 26,000 square feet each and a breath-sucking $125-per-square-foot asking price.
The floors all come with full-length private terraces with glass railings and the possibility of a stunning roof deck that will also leave you breathless. This sheltered space has views over Soho, down to One World Trade Center and back north to the Empire State Building and Times Square skyline.
Meanwhile, a few blocks north in the Meatpacking District, Taconic Investment Partners and Thor Equities are completing their long- and eagerly awaited redevelopment of 837 Washington St. opposite The Standard Hotel.
Here, there are just six stories inside the new glass jewel box designed by Morris Adjmi. There is a 27,000 square-foot retail triplex that includes lower and ground levels, and a 13,000 square-foot High Line-height second floor.
The third through sixth office floors step up and back from 10,500 square feet to 5,800 square feet for boutique users with deep pockets who can spend “north of $130 a [square] foot.”
Is the space worth it? It is unique, will make dandy branding and will come with Hudson River sunset views. It is also in the midst of the Meatpacking action that will soon include the Whitney’s elephant-sized building down the block.
If you got it, and want one, we say flaunt it.