By Daniel Geiger 1/17/12 12:04pm

Lease of the Week

Starrett-Lehigh Building. (Courtesy Property Shark)

“The Most Complicated Deal I Personally Have Handled.”

It’s not uncommon to hear Manhattan’s real estate market characterized as sophisticated or complex.

Not every day, however, does a requirement as straightforward as Dentsu McGarryBowen’s uncork such an elaborate and interconnected series of transactions as it did at the Starrett-Lehigh Building.

A longtime tenant in the 2.3-million-square-foot building and one of the property’s largest users, the advertising firm needed to expand. But there was a small problem: Despite its size, the building—an artsy, far West Side location popular among creative tenants—had virtually no available space. Read More

By Daniel Geiger 1/17/12 11:00am

lease beat

Starrett-Lehigh Building. (Courtesy Property Shark)

Gamble Pays Off at Starrett-Lehigh

A year into owning the Starrett-Lehigh Building, RXR Realty is making what at first appeared a dicey gamble into an investment that looks closer to a sure thing.

RXR, led by its chief executive Scott Rechler, acquired the 2.3 million-square-foot far West Side office building last year for a whopping $900 million, a purchase price that equated to almost $400 per square foot. Though buildings in Midtown have traded for double that or more on a per square foot basis in recent months, the sheer magnitude of the investment turned heads as a jumbo-sized commitment in a neighborhood that many brokers and tenants still consider off the beaten path. Read More

By Laura Kusisto 6/08/11 11:55am

Trading Spaces

620 Sixth Avenue.

Bed Bath & Beyond Building on the Block; Could Fetch $500 M., Sources Say

Hot on the heels of RXR Realty’s purchase of the Starrett-Lehigh Building for $900 million and the sale of 111 Eighth Avenue to Google for $1.8 billion, Bed Bath & Beyond’s building is on the block.

A partnership of Joseph Chetrit and Yair Levy, spearheaded by Charles Dayan from Bonjour Capital, bought the building for $289.8 million in 2005, according to city records. But with the trendy Chelsea office market enjoying a boom, driven in no small part by the tech bubble, the building could sell for around $500 million, according to some sources. Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 3/15/11 2:13pm

the sit-down

How to Time a Return to Manhattan

Before SL Green bought it in 2006, the REIT formerly known as Reckson Associates had a strong presence in the city. After that sale, however, the company, now known as RXR Realty, pulled back from Manhattan and, instead, focused on New Jersey, Westchester and Long Island. But as executive vice president and managing director Bill Elder, Read More