Dealmaker: Cushman & Wakefield Sells Two New York Properties
Cushman & Wakefield, New York, represented sellers in two New York City transactions totaling $113.5 million.
JDS Development and The Chetrit Group purchased a historic building at 9 DeKalb Avenue between Fleet Street and Flatbush Avenue Extension in downtown Brooklyn from JPMorgan in a $90 million all-cash transaction.
Built in the mid-1850s for the Dime Savings Bank of New York, the five-story structure includes more than 70,000 gross square feet with 315,000 square feet of transferable development rights. The air rights can potentially be used at a neighboring development site or used to build out the maximum envelope of the site to 450,000 square feet. The property previously operated as a bank with offices on the higher floors, but the property stood vacant upon sale.
“The landmarked status of the property insures the asset will remain intact but the development rights will help the adjacent development become yet another iconic building for the city’s skyline,” said Bob Knakal, Chairman of New York Investment Sales with Cushman & Wakefield. He worked with C&W Vice Chairmen James Nelson and Stephen Palmese on the transaction.
Knakal said an influx of residential and hotel development into downtown Brooklyn created growing opportunity within the area. It abuts the Fulton Mall and City Point, which see more than 100,000 daily shoppers, and the area’s residential market has record low inventories and strong demand for available housing.
Nelson said surrounding developments include 388 Bridge Street, Brooklyn Air, MetroTech Center, the New York City Fire Department headquarters and offices for the Brooklyn Nets. “With the assemblage, it will become the most visible development in the borough,” he said.
Cushman & Wakefield also sold an elevator-serviced apartment building at 440 West 47th Street in Manhattan’s Midtown West neighborhood for $23.5 million.
The five-story building includes one commercial unit, 16 rent stabilized rental apartments and 30 free-market apartments. The sale price equaled $760 per square foot.
“The multifamily market continues to thrive, notwithstanding changing market conditions,” said Knakal, who worked with C&W Directors Jonathan Hageman and Chris Brodhead.
Brodhead said nearby Chelsea has experienced significant growth and record-setting rents for years, “northern neighborhoods in Midtown West are only beginning to see an equally substantial transformation take shape and are expected to grow tremendously as the expansion of the west side pushes north.”
