ASB Acquires Manhattan Mixed Use Property for $61.9M

ASB Real Estate Investments (ASB), a division of ASB Capital Management, LLC, announced this week that it had acquired 164-168 Canal Street in Manhattan on behalf of ASB's Allegiance Fund in a joint venture with George Comfort & Sons for $61.9 million. The six-story mixed use building first came to market in August, being marketed by Massey Knakal Realty Services with an asking price of $63 million. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Robert Bellinger, President and CEO of ASB Real Estate Investments, said: "This is a high-quality asset in a premier, Class A+, Manhattan retail location. Driven by the growth in Chinese wealth, this area of Canal Street has emerged as a thriving bank corridor and we expect the property to continue to experience strong investment grade tenancy that provides a steady income stream."

The 49,951 square-foot red brick building was originally constructed in 1910 at the corner of Canal and Elizabeth Streets. Nearly all of the current leases in the building are set to expire by the end of the year, with roughly 70% of the property occupied by credit tenants, including CitiBank and NY Life & Co.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

RFR Secures $100M Financing for 345 Park Avenue South

RFR Holding GmbH (RFR), a real estate investment firm owned by the RFR Group, announced this week that it had closed on $100 million in financing for 345 Park Avenue South. Through the 10-year CMBS transaction arranged by Citibank, RFR will decease existing debt on the property while taking advantage of low interest rates to reduce its cost of capital going forward, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

"This transaction exemplifies several trends we're seeing in the financing marketplace," said Jason Brown, Head of Acquisitions for RFR. "With strong sponsors like RFR, lenders are now willing to extend the term of the financing beyond the terms of existing leases. There's an understanding that groups with a track record of retaining and attracting tenants are likely to maintain stable performance in the future."

345 Park Avenue sits on a full city block with the front on Park Avenue, the back on Lexington Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets in New York. Completed in 1969, the skyscraper stands 634 feet tall and and has 44 floors. Emery Roth & Sons designed the building, which is the 64th tallest in New York. The office floors are 100% occupied by Digitas, a leading digital marketing firm owned by international advertising and public relations company Publicis Groupe.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Long Island City's One Court Square Trades for $481M

SL Green Realty Corp. announced this week that One Court Square in Long Island City, NY was sold for approximately $481 million. SL Green took control of the property in a joint venture with JPMorgan when it acquired the real estate investment trust Reckson in 2006. The transaction included the assumption by the purchaser, an unnamed private investor group, of $315 million of existing debt.

The tower was marketed by brokers Douglas Harmon and Adam Spies of Eastdil Secured. The price works out to a hair more than $350 a foot for the 1.4-million-square foot building that is triple-net leased back to Citibank through 2020, but will need a new mortgage in 2015, according to a New York Post article. CoStar Group reports that the 52-story, 1.49 million-square-foot, Class A marquee office building was designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill and built in 1985 on 1.9 acres, towering above the Northwest Queens County submarket of Long Island.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

OneWest Bank Buys $1.4B CMBS Portfolio

OneWest Bank, formerly IndyMac Bank, announced the purchase of a $1.4 billion multifamily and commercial real estate loan portfolio from Citibank. The deal, which includes approximately 600 loans as part of the portfolio, was closed immediately, the terms of which were undisclosed.

"We are pleased to be able to work with Citibank to complete this transaction. This portfolio purchase represents our ongoing commitment to Commercial Real Estate lending. We are excited to add quality earning assets to our balance sheet and look forward to providing all of the banking services that OneWest has to offer to our new customers," said OneWest Bank's President and CEO Joseph Otting.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.