Busy Week for Commercial Real Estate in New York City

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

The commercial real estate transactions cited by Citibizlist that were closed this week in New York City show signs of improvement in the market.

The entire fourth floor of an office building located at 1150 Avenue of the Americas was leased for four years and eight months by consultancy firm Jackobin Consulting Services Inc., who will take occupancy of the 6,500-square-foot space on September 1. the deal was brokered by Harvey Richer of Newmark Knight Frank on behalf of Jackobin Consulting.

A much larger lease of almost 200,000 square feet was signed by Gilt Groupe, an online retailer, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), a non-profit engineering organization. The space is located in a 30-story building at Two Park Avenue that is owned by a Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing affiliate. According to Citybizlist, Gilt Groupe was formerly a subtenant but from now on the company will lease space directly and will occupy 98,000 square feet of space on the fourth and fifth floors. Once it completes relocating its operations from 3Park Avenue, ASME will occupy 99,000 square feet on the sixth and seventh floors of the building. The owner was represented by Tara Stacom, Mitchell Arkin, David E. Green and Whitten Morris from Cushman & Wakefield. Gilt Groupe was represented by Marcus Rayner of Cresa Partners, and ASME was represented by Leon Manoff and Mark Jaccom of Colliers International.

The I. Miller Building at 1552 Broadway was purchased from the Riese Organization for $136.55 million by a joint venture of SL Green and Wharton Acquisitions. The building is known for its four-story TGI Friday’s sign.

A 10-year lease for a 600-square-foot office space was signed this week by the Change Group, a family-owned foreign currency and travel services provider. The company intends to use the space for its sixth location in New York City, informs Citybizlist.