The Potamkin family wants to sell an entire East Harlem block that has the potential for more than 765,000 square feet of housing. The full block has an address of 2485 Second Ave. between East 127th and 128th Streets and runs to Third Avenue.
Currently, Potamkin operates a Hyundai and Mitsubishi dealership in one building, and leases out another that was previously a GM dealership for Chevrolet and Cadillac.
The auto dealerships had been announced with great fanfare at a 2004 ceremony attended by Mayor Bloomberg, General Motors’ then-CEO Rick Wagoner and Rev. Jesse Jackson.
But this past January, after what a GM spokeswoman said was four years of operations and “millions of dollars” in losses and support, GM shut the dealerships. Potamkin, the site’s owner, let GM out of the remaining 11 years of its Harlem lease and instead rented it a Potamkin-owned building at 704 Eleventh Ave. along Auto Row.
Alan Potamkin told us GM’s original move to Harlem was made to counteract what were expected to be very high future rents on Eleventh Avenue and fleeing dealerships. Instead, Auto Row has become revitalized with glitzy dealerships from the likes of BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen, thus providing GM with an impetus to return.
Now, looking to cash in on the residential resurgence of Harlem, Potamkin wants to sell the entire Harlem blockfront.
Potamkin, who shares the co-chair title with his brother, Robert, has already consulted the city’s top sales brokers, who advised him to wait until September. But since he called us, we’re giving you a heads up, even though the brokers won’t be too happy.
Potamkin feels the city will allow a rezoning of the 103,000 square foot block because the auto dealer developers bought it at the same time the city sold two other blocks that were then rezoned for housing.
But hey, Potamkin says he’s also open to offers for leasing and adaptive reuse of the 200,000 square foot building, 60,000 square feet of currently unused floor area, and parking for well over 70 cars.
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Lacoste is leasing a new, 4,800 square foot spot at 541 Broadway that was previously a Foot Locker. The asking rent was $550 a square foot. Lacoste had a smaller store on Prince Street that was converted to its L!VE concept late last year.
The new store will sell all Lacoste, all the time, and open for the holiday season, sources said.
Gene Spiegelman and Michael O’Neill of Cushman & Wakefield represented Lacoste, while the building was represented by an agent from Andrews Building Corp.
Lacoste is also expanding and renovating its 608 Fifth Ave. US flagship and should reopen soon.
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As Post colleague Steve Cuozzo reported yesterday, CIM and Harry Macklowe are making headway in buying out the retail townhouses along the East 57th Street side of the Drake Hotel site.
But it looks like no one is waiting to start working on the site.
Back in May, plans were filed for a new, six-story building designed by SLCE that skirts the townhouse issue by being erected along the rear and vacant 56th Street side and onto Park Avenue. This layout includes retail stores, a lobby, loading docks and cellar levels.
Those plans, however, have not yet been given a green light by the Buildings Dept., and it is unclear if that interim plan, which was likely a “base” for the 70-story skyscraper designed by Raphael Vinoly, will ever be implemented.
No matter, as Macklowe is expected to make a “major” announcement regarding the site come September. Stay tuned.
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Meanwhile, Harry’s son, Billy Macklowe, didn’t waste any time filling the 50,000 square foot hole at his recently purchased 636 Avenue of the Americas prize.
SecondMarket Holdings inked a 10-year anchor tenant deal for all the remaining space on the third through sixth floors along with the penthouse and its outdoor roof deck. Asking rents ranged from $55 to $60 a square foot.
The online alternative market trading site will move from its downtown offices at 26 Broadway to the new Flatiron headquarters early next year. Naming rights will also redub it the “SecondMarket Building.”
Jones Lang LaSalle brokers repped both sides, with the tenant work by Jim Wenk, Paul Formichelli, Dan Suozzi and John Lewis. The William Macklowe Co./Clarion Partners ownership venture was repped by Mitchell Konsker, Matthew Astrachan, Jonathan Tootell and Matt Ginberg.
Macklowe is restoring the cast iron facade’s distinctive architecture, expanding and renovating the lobby and installing new mechanical systems, elevators and infrastructure.
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We can now reveal that Nomura will be settling into Worldwide Plaza for the long term. We’ve just learned the 22-year lease for 900,000 square feet that kicks in Jan. 1, 2012, can be expanded and extended through various options for yet another 20 years. Additionally, the Japanese company has the right of “first offer” to buy both the building and “certain ownership interests.”
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The engaging product inventor’s social network site, Quirky, signed a lease to relocate its offices to 601 W. 27th St., aka 261 Eleventh Ave., where it can nearly triple its operations and have room to expand.
The 10-year, 27,500 square foot lease covers a portion of the seventh floor of the 1.2 million square foot full block Chelsea loft build ing also known as the Ter minal Warehouse Build ing. It sits along the West Side Highway and near the High Line. Quirky is currently in smaller digs in SoHo at 628 Broadway.
Studley’s Greg Taubin represented the tenant, while ownership, Waterfront New York Realty Corp., was represented in-house by Chris Flagg. Flagg says upper-floor rents are $30 a square foot while ground-floor leases could range from $35 to $75 a square foot for the corner of Eleventh Avenue and 28th Street.
Lois@BetweenTheBricks.com