Holiday Inn NYC – Lower East Side Opens at 150 Delancey Street

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

The growing InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) empire recently added a new facility to its New York City list of hotels with the opening of Holiday Inn NYC – Lower East Side at 150 Delancey St. Designed by architect Gene Kaufman, who has a long history with hotel projects in New York, the 58,000-square-foot full-service facility was developed by the McSam Hotel Group, one of the largest hotel developers in the city.

The eight-story hotel features 132 guest rooms—82 single bed rooms, 50 double bed rooms and 6 rooms for the physically challenged—in line with the Holiday Inn family’s $1 billion global brand re-launch that aims to increase quality and consistency across the global portfolio of over 1,200 properties.

Apart from the standard Holiday Inn signature guestroom and bathroom accommodations, all hotel rooms are equipped with business-focused amenities such as ergonomic workstations, data ports and complimentary USA Today newspapers. The hotel’s ground floor is anchored by a Retro Bar & Grill, where guests can enjoy American-influenced cuisine throughout the week at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“The Holiday Inn brand has always represented quality and comfort, and our new hotel is a perfect fit for the Lower East Side neighborhood,” said Tim Chhatwal, the hotel’s general manager, as quoted in a press statement.

According to Bowery Boogie, the Holiday Inn NYC – Lower East Side site was purchased for $15.75 million in mid-2009 by hotel guru Sam Chang, the developer behind the McSam Hotel Group. The project kicked off several weeks later with the demolition of the low-rise buildings at the corner of Delancey and Suffolk streets.

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Image courtesy of InteContinental Hotels Group

World’s Largest Data Center Opens in Manhattan

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

Sabey Data Center Properties, a Seattle-based multi-tenant data center owner that also specializes in computer infrastructure, has powered up the first phase of the largest and tallest data center in the world. The 32-story high-rise is located at 375 Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan in the formerly foreclosed Verizon Building, most of which Sabey acquired for $120 million in 2011.

Contrary to a general trend that calls for data centers to be moved outside urban clusters where power and real estate are much cheaper, Sabey’s Intergate.Manhattan is a unique business model that will serve primarily Financial District customers and businesses looking for high processing speed.

Currently providing over 100,000 square feet of data center space and 5.4 Megawatts from ConEd, the facility will ultimately accommodate 40 Megawatts of critical data center capacity on 1 million square feet, of which 600,000 square feet will serve as data center-specific floor space.

The building’s first tenant is the New York Genome Center, a computer and storage platform working for 12 leading medical institutions. Verizon still owns and occupies three floors in the building, according to Real Estate Weekly. David Falk, Michael Morris and Bryan Loewen of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank will represent Intergate.Manhattan as leasing agents for the building’s 17 floors that are immediately available.

Designed by Rose, Beaton & Rose for the former New York Telephone Company, the monolithic building was completed in 1975.

Image credits to Mark Lennihan/AP

Luxury Tower Under Construction Hits Market with One-third of Units Already Sold

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

An announcement made by the development team behind a much-anticipated residential tower in Midtown Manhattan shows once again that the luxury market in New York City is anything but boring these days. Los Angeles-based private-equity firm CIM Group and Macklowe Properties, a local development company, have officially launched the sales campaign for 432 Park Avenue—a $1.2 billion condo tower located on Park Avenue between 56th and 57th Street.

So far so good, but what’s really surprising is the fact that the tower is set for completion in 2015, and one-third of the residences were sold before they officially hit the market.

Designed by Rafael Viñoly and SLCE Architects, the 96-story structure kicked off in 2012. When completed in mid-2015, it will become the tallest building in New York City and the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere. The tower is being constructed using architectural concrete, steel and glass to rise 1,396 feet above Manhattan.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, 432 Park Avenue will include 126 high-end apartments with a combined asking price of $2.7 billion–which breaks down to $6,742 per square foot, one of the highest asking prices for this area.

Apart from the super-pricey, ultra-luxury units, the tower will also include 30,000 square feet of amenities such as a private restaurant, outdoor garden for dining and events, spa and fitness center with steam and massage rooms, swimming pool, 24-hour doorman, valet parking services, and several other recreational spaces for residents.

According to The Journal, high-end real estate developers in New York City typically start marketing units long before the developments reach completion. Furthermore, the demand for pricey apartments is fueled by the lack of housing inventory in the city and, to a certain extent, by U.S. and overseas investors who look for prime locations.

Rendering of 432 Park Avenue courtesy of CIM Group & Macklowe Properties via Business Wire

Orbach Group Pays $70M for Manhattan Portfolio; Extell Sells Retail Condo at the International Gem Tower

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

The Orbach Group, a New York-based real estate management and investment company, has expanded its New York City apartment portfolio with three new acquisitions totaling around $70 million. The seller, Dermot Company, was represented in the transaction by Andrew Scandalios of HFF.

The newly acquired buildings are 210 and 230 W. 107^th St. on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and include a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units totaling 178 high-end apartments with market rents ranging from $2,400 to $5,000 per month. With these new additions, Orbach’s multifamily assets in the city reached almost 1,000 units, while the company’s entire East Coast portfolio is more than 5,000 units.

In commercial real estate highlights for this week, Extell Development sold a three-story retail condominium at 50 West 47^th Street in Manhattan’s Diamond District. The 12,000 square feet of space span three levels in Extell’s International Gem Tower—a $750 million skyscraper that opened in October 2012 and was designed by renowned architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill exclusively for the global diamond, gem and jewelry industry.

The buyer is The Gulaylar Group, a leading gold and diamond retailer and investor based in Turkey. According to Hurriyet, the company paid $10 million for the property and plans to create a state-of-the-art jewelry exchange in the new space.

“This building brings tremendous prestige to Manhattan’s Diamond District, and The Gulaylar Group’s new jewelry exchange will benefit greatly from the prestigious address and exposure to our owners and their guests,” said Mehmet Gulay, vice president of the Gulaylar Group, in a press statement.

Property closings at the International Gem Tower continue steadily, and Extell Development estimates that the first companies may start moving into the new spaces in mid-2013. Some of the most important players in the diamonds and gem industry—such as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), A.S. Diamonds, Eurostar and Kuperman Bros. Diamonds USA—have already acquired space in the 34-story building.

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Rendering of the International Gem Tower via www.internationalgemtower.com

Construction Breaks Ground on 925-unit Multifamily Project in Long Island City

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

March 4 marked the official groundbreaking of the initial phase of Hunter’s Point South, the biggest affordable housing project in New York City in 40 years. A $332 million joint venture between Phipps Houses, Related Companies and Monadnock Construction, the project is located on a 30-acre site on the Long Island City waterfront in Queens.

Phase I of the Hunter’s Point South project was designed by SHoP Architects and Ismael Levya Architects to achieve LEED Silver certification and consists of two residential buildings—32 and 37 stories each—with 925 permanently affordable apartments targeted to low-, moderate- and middle-income families.

The project also includes 17,000 square feet of retail space, a five-acre waterfront park and a new school with 1,100 seats which, according to The Epoch Times, is under construction and should be open by September.

Both buildings will feature public terraces, a fitness center, tech center, play space for children, recreational space and bike storage. The 37-story Building A, which will be located at 1-50 50^th Ave., will consist of 165 studio, 205 one-, 214 two- and 35 three-bedroom units; 13,739 square feet of retail space; and a 220-space parking garage. Located at 1-55 Borden Ave., the 32-story Building B will include 100 studios, 82 one-, 101 two- and 23 three-bedroom units and around 3,000 square feet of retail space.

The first residents are expected to move in the two buildings in 2014, with construction fully compete in 2015.

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Rendering via NYCEDC