Latest news with #RFRRealty
New York Post
28-07-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Aby Rosen's Seaport office tower at 17 State St. bouncing back with new lease deals
Leasing is brisk at 17 State St. near the Seaport since RFR Realty refinanced the harbor-facing, 571,000 square-foot office tower in January. The refi was one of three that RFR head Aby Rosen pulled off on previously strained properties — the other two were retail portions of 670 Sixth Ave. and 150 E. 72nd St. At 17 State St., which RFR has owned for 25 years, five renewals totaled 68,362 square feet. The largest was for Alphadyne Investment Management, which renewed early on 43,872 square feet. Rosen, who's shored up his formerly under-siege empire one property at a time, also signed deals with three new tenants totaling over 12,000 square feet, including AI-powered life insurance tech firm Optifino. Advertisement At 17 State St., which RFR has owned for 25 years, five renewals totaled 68,362 square feet. RFR The 4,300 square-foot amenities space on the third floor. RFR Meanwhile, 17 State launched a new, 4,300 square-foot amenities space on the third floor. The Liberty Lounge and Conference Center boasts a lounge, cafe, library, screening room and ornamental foliage as an homage to nearby Battery Park. Advertisement As per CoStar, the tower is 89% leased. Asking rents range from $65 to $75 per square foot. The reinvestment and repositioning of 5 Penn Plaza continues to pay off for investor-landlord Stephen Haymes. The 1916 structure between West 33rd and 34th streets landed another new tenant — Fireblocks, a blockchain security platform that helps to store, transfer and manage cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. The firm, which is moving and expanding from 441 Ninth Ave., signed for 35,000 square feet on the entire 23rd floor and part of the penthouse with a wraparound terrace. Advertisement The building boasts a new lobby, open views, an amenities center and a dog-friendly roof terrace, and is more than 85% leased. Asking rents are in the $70-$80 per square foot range. A JLL team led by Mitchell Konsker represented the landlord. Newmark's Aaron Ellison and Adam Spector repped the tenant.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$1B residential project kicks off in Gowanus — as ‘starchitect' reveals vision for 1,000-unit rental tower
BIG is back – and better — in Gowanus. The developers of 175 Third St. tapped Bjarke Ingels' much-in-demand architectural firm to design their planned, 1,000-unit, rental apartment tower – and it's nothing like BIG's earlier concept for previous site-owner Aby Rosen's RFR Realty. The new 175 Third St. in the burgeoning residential neighborhood from Charney Companies and Tavros will stand 27 stories encompassing over 1 million square feet – the fifth building by the partners on four different sites on the Gowanus Canal's eastern side. The images on this page reveal Ingels' new vision for the first time, which the architect described as 'stacked blocks of cascading concrete volumes, cascading down toward the canal waterfront.' 'We had our eyes on the site forever,' Charney Companies principal Sam Charney said. 'But someone else always owned it' until 'the price finally came down [to $164 million] and we knew this was the time.' The purchase closed in May. When RFR bailed, it was expected that Charney and Tavros would choose a different architect. Instead, they liked Ingels' new concept the best of the proposals they solicited from a half-dozen 'starchitects.' 'We did not like the previous iteration,' Charney told Realty Check. 'It was inefficient and hard to build. It had a red-brick design that kind of drowned out the [red brick] Powerhouse Arts structure next door.' But Ingels' new conception 'blew us away,' Charney said. Its textured 'architectural concrete' will look as if it's chiseled out of rock' — an homage to the area's industrial past. Chamfered, angled corners at various heights generate 'cool outdoor spaces.' A federal-supervised cleanup of the two-mile-long, noxious canal that began ten years ago prompted the city to rezone 82 blocks in the former low-rise manufacturing area for residential use. The rush to create nearly 9,000 new rental apartments spurred a construction boom. A portion of the once-toxic canal – long a punch line of stand-up comedians – emerged as the district's unlikely scenic centerpiece. The waterway now suggests a picturesque, slow-moving river between handsome apartment towers on both sides. The new 175 Third Street will have 1,000 rental units, of which 25% are 'affordable' as required by neighborhood Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning. It will follow Charney and Tavros' 224-unit Union Channel, which opened in February and is already 60% rented; and Douglass Port at 251 Douglass St. and Nevins Landing at 310 and 340 Nevins St., both under Charney estimated the development cost of 175 Third St., including the land purchase, at about $1 billion. With 100,000 square feet of retail space, it will be the crown jewel of what Charney and Tavros call a 'Gowanus Wharf campus' even though the buildings aren't next to each other. It will boast a 30,000 square-foot public park with 250 feet of canal boardwalk; sports facilities, a dog run, rooftop lounges, spa pools and a three-acre, landscaped courtyard, plus 35,000 square feet of lavish indoor amenities. A waterfront promenade will eventually run the canal's length, with each developer responsible for the segment in front of their buildings. The ones Charney and Tavros are installing on their Nevins and Third Street frontages will be landscaped by Field Operations of High Line Park fame. Construction of 175 Third St. will likely start when the Nevins and Douglass Street buildings are finished roughly a year from now.
New York Post
04-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Amazon closes purchase of 522 Fifth Ave.
A few weeks ago, we described Amazon as an 'ever-expanding behemoth' on the Manhattan scene, following its 330,000 square-foot lease signing at 10 Bryant Park. The deal followed its $1 billion purchase of the former Lord & Taylor building and large leases at three other buildings. But Jeff Bezos wasn't done. On Friday, Amazon closed on the purchase of 522 Fifth Ave. from Aby Rosen's RFR Realty, as reported by the Real Deal. Amazon's purchase of 522 Fifth Ave, above, closed on Friday. Google Maps The price wasn't disclosed, but the acquisition added 600,000 more square feet to Amazon's presence here. This, from a company many said would abandon New York after its bid for a regional headquarters campus in Queens was scuttled by elected officials in 2016. As CBRE dealmaker Stephen B. Siegel told us a few weeks ago, 'Never give up on New York City or the availability of capital here.'
