Crains New York - June 3, 2013 - (Page 9)

IN THE BOROUGHS MANHATTAN Continued from Page 3 for the five-mile long ribbon of park. It sounds good to some, perhaps, but Ms. Vianna calculated that the payment would increase the monthly maintenance she pays on her co-op by 0.5%. “That doesn’t sound like a lot,but we already feel like we’re paying quite a bit to live here,” Ms. Vianna said. “Parks are a public good and should come out of our tax money.” In February, Ms. Vianna helped found Neighbors Against the NID. FROM AROUND THE CITY BRONX Flicks click for Fordham Plaza The Amazing Spider-Man lit up the night in April as the first of a series of movies to be shown outdoors at Fordham Plaza through the summer, courtesy of the Fordham Road Business Improvement District. Late last year, its movie-night plan won a $26,000 prize as part of a competition by the Department of Small Business Services to find the most innovative neighborhood improvement proposals. So far, she has collected more than 1,200 signatures from residents and businesses who believe it makes no sense for the neighborhood to suddenly have to foot the bill for a park that opened in 2003 as a public amenity. In other parts of the city, BIDs are desired by neighborhoods because the businesses being tapped see a clear benefit to themselves, and they lobby the city to win approval. Though some BIDs support parks, such as Bryant Park, private money “BIDs are usually very businessoriented,” said Wilma Alonso, executive director of the Fordham Road BID. “This is social-community development, instead of economic development.” Among other things, she is hoping that the popularity of flicks will help win support for her group’s plan to extend the boundaries of the district to include the plaza as well as several commercial properties nearby. A formal application to do just that is pending before city officials. Meanwhile, the city is moving ahead with large-scale plans to renovate Fordham Plaza, which will include shifting a loop in the center of the plaza that is used by buses elsewhere, and putting in its place more public space, retail kiosks and cafés. —cara eisenpress DIRE STRAITS: Parts of the five-mile-long Hudson River park, like this section of bulkhead, are in need of costly repairs. hudson river park Hudson River NID usually is raised to be spent by private companies that run them. In the case of Hudson River Park, however, private funds would be raised to be spent by the state agency that runs it. Park officials concede that the NID is only a last resort, one that is desperately needed to pull the park—with its rotten pilings, high maintenance costs and sections still left undone—out of a deep financial hole. “If we want Hudson River Park to be a park that everyone continues to be proud of, and a park that gets completed at some point, this is a necessary piece of it,” said Madelyn Wils, chairman of the Hudson River Park Trust, a city-state agency that operates the park. The park receives no city or state money for operations. Those funds are supposed to flow from revenue from Chelsea Piers, Pier 40 and Pier 57, the park’s commercial nodes. But revenue from all has fallen far short, leaving an annual $9 million gap between income and expenses. Cast in the role of Cassandra,Ms.Wils reminds the community constantly that in three years she will run out of money and will have to start shutting down pieces of the greenway. “No one likes to pay more, and no one likes to see things fall apart,so this is a choice people have to make,” said Ms. Wils, who said she has collected 1,300 signatures in favor of the NID. Under the proposal, which park officials expect to submit to the city’s Department of Small Business Services in the next few weeks, residential properties would pay an additional 7.5 cents per square foot annually,and businesses 15 cents per square foot. Ms. Wils’ argument is that these properties benefit financially from their proximity to the park. In fact, a 2008 study by the Regional Plan Association, commissioned by HUDSON RIVER PARK’S annual Friends of Hudfunding gap son River Park, showed that in Greenwich Village the park PER-SQUAREFOOT LEVY area buoyed values for residents would properties within pay annually to a couple of blocks support the park of the greenway by nearly 20%. The NID plan INCREASE IN has some powerAREA PROPERTY ful backers. MayVALUES attributed to the park or Michael Bloomberg’s girlfriend, Diana Taylor, sits on the Friends board with Deputy Mayor Robert Steel.Mega-developer Douglas Durst, who owns several properties near the river, is heading the $9M 7.5¢ 20% steering committee for the NID.But even park advocates concede creating the NID will be an uphill battle. “It’s difficult to impose a NID after the fact, when you have a beautiful park and suddenly you’re told you have some responsibility for its upkeep,” said Holly Leicht, executive director of New Yorkers for Parks. Hudson River Park’s not-so-secret weapon will likely be its decrepitude. A similarly advanced state of decay at Union Square and Bryant Park helped persuade local BIDs to kick in money for their rescue. Another point of contention is the boundaries of the proposed NID. The Downtown Independent Democrats object to “carve-outs” in the plan, which will exempt two huge properties with park frontage— Hudson Yards and the World Trade Center—from the tax. The group calls that break “arbitrary and unfair,” and claims the NID sets a bad precedent for “other projects that are the responsibility of the city of New York and the state of New York.” Ⅲ REAL ESTATE DEALS 1 Grand Central Place scores Allianz investment unit BARE BONES F or years, Malkin Holdings has been upgrading its 1 Grand Central Place so it can compete with newer office buildings just a few blocks north on Park Avenue. A recent deal with the real estate investing arm of German insurance company Allianz has given Malkin the sense that its tens of millions of dollars of investment in the tower is paying off. Allianz Real Estate of America took 6,800 square feet, a portion of the 37th floor, at the building located at 60 E. 42nd St., between Park and Madison avenues. Allianz will be relocating from a nearby office at 1114 Sixth Ave., at West 43rd Street. “To get a prestigious company like Allianz to come from a building like 1114 Sixth Ave. to our tower is huge for us,” said Billy Cohen, a broker at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank who represents Malkin Holdings at the property. Allianz signed a 10-year deal for the space, which had an asking rent of $59 per square foot. Malkin installed a prebuilt office unit on the 37th floor of the 55-story building as an incentive for tenants who didn’t want to go through the work and expense of constructing an office space themselves. Newly constructed office buildings have become increasingly attractive as tenants have sought the efficiencies and amenities that modern spaces offer. Fred Posniak, an executive at Malkin Holdings who also helped arrange the deal with Allianz, said that the 1930s-era 1 Grand Central Place has kept pace by making extensive renovations.“You have a historic structure with all the modern amenities,” Mr. Posniak said. Mr. Cohen helped arrange the deal with Newmark colleague Ryan Kass. Allianz was represented by Jason Perla and —daniel geiger Greg Taubin, brokers at Studley. Fro-yo shop to serve in Brooklyn Chicago-based Forever Yogurt has inked a 13-year deal for 1,100 square feet at 236 Flatbush Ave., in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. This is the second lease in recent weeks for the chain, which signed on for a store on West Third Street in Manhattan.Both outposts should open for business in about six weeks, according to Forever Yogurt Chief Executive Mandy Calara. He noted that the company wants to have at least 25 locations in the city. The new fro-yo shop replaces a dentist’s office. The asking rent for the deal was $110 a square foot, 80% more than four years ago in the neighborhood,according to Adam Stupak, the Task Realty broker who, along with colleague Dustin Roccaforte, represented both Forever Yogurt and landlord Michael Pintnik. —adrianne pasquarelli 469 SEVENTH AVE. 1556 THIRD AVE. 432 PARK AVE. SOUTH ASKING RENT; TERM: $47 per square foot; eight years ASKING RENT; TERM: Undisclosed; 10 years ASKING RENT; TERM: $150 per square foot; long-term lease SQUARE FEET: 17,000 TENANT; REP: Summit Business Media; Alan Wildes of Cushman & Wakefield LANDLORD; REP: Meyer family; Eric Meyer of Colliers International BACK STORY: The company will take the entire 10th floor of the 16-story building. SQUARE FEET: 3,600 TENANT; REP: The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; in-house representation LANDLORD; REP: Muss Development; in-house representation by Ross Spitalnick BACK STORY: The medical tenant signed on for an expansion on the fifth floor, bringing its total footprint in the Agora Building to 8,400, according to The Commercial Observer. SQUARE FEET: 2,800 TENANT; REPS: Hale & Hearty Soups; Joshua W. Gettler and Matthew J. Gorman of New Street Realty Advisors LANDLORD; REP: 432 Park South Realty Co.; Joshua Smith of Samco Properties BACK STORY: The soup chain, which already has 29 outposts in the New York area, will open at this location in the first quarter of 2014. June 3, 2013 | Crain’s New York Business | 9

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - June 3, 2013

Crains New York - June 3, 2013
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
REAL ESTATE DEALS
OPINION
GREG DAVID
FOR THE RECORD
TOP ENTREPRENEURS
CLASSIFIEDS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE COFFEE
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - June 3, 2013