Crains New York - July 8, 2013 - (Page 9)

REAL ESTATE DEALS PLUS Bidders up ante at Empire State Bldg. F or 82 years, the Empire State Building has towered over New York and loomed large in the imaginations of locals and tourists alike. But not since King Kong clung to its radio mast in the 1933 movie has the spire seen a battle like this. On the one side is Malkin Holdings, the company that controls the 102-story landmark, and which only recently won the backing of the vast majority of the building’s 2,800 shareholders to make it the centerpiece of a new $5 billion public company. On the other side is a growing gaggle of some of the richest real estate moguls in the nation, all of whom insist BARE BONES 104 W. 40TH ST. 477 MADISON AVE. 40 WALKER ST. ASKING RENT; TERM: $50s-$60s per square foot; 10 years ASKING RENT; TERM: $56 per square foot; five years ASKING RENT; TERM: $53 per square foot; five years SQUARE FEET: 25,000 SQUARE FEET: 6,400 SQUARE FEET: 2,600 TENANT; REP: Trepp; David Hoffman of Cassidy Turley TENANT; REP: Stillfried Wien; Roxanne Betesh of Sinvin Real Estate TENANT; REP: Gotham Inc.; Scott Panzer of Jones Lang LaSalle LANDLORD; REP: David Tawfik; Paul Amrich of CBRE Group Inc. BACK STORY: A subsidiary of Interpublic Group, Gotham Inc. will take the sixth and seventh floors of the 22-story building. LANDLORD; REP: JAB Madison Associates; Mr. Hoffman Walker; Ms. Betesh BACK STORY: The commercial real estate financial-data firm will take space on the second floor, in addition to the 34,000 square feet it already occupies on the 17th and 19th floors. BACK STORY: The store, which sells highend modern and classic Viennese furniture, will move into a TriBeCa loft space on the ground floor and in the basement. LANDLORD; REP: 40 that Malkin is undervaluing the building. In the past month, four of them have come forward with offers of their own. Most recently, it was the turn of Reuven Kahane, a real estate investor from the West Coast who first gained fame for introducing the American bagel to Israel. His $2.25 billion offer last week bested other recent bids by—in order of their appearance on the scene—Woolworth Building owner Rubin Schron; a group led by real estate investors Phil Pilevsky and Joseph Tabak; and Joseph Sitt, chief of prolific real estate investment firm Thor Equities, who has offered $2.1 billion. The bids have raised questions as to what the building is worth, and whether it is more valuable on the private or public market. Malkin, which by the end of the year wants to roll the building and 18 other midtown properties into a new real estate investment trust to be called Empire State Realty Holdings, has advised shareholders that the property could be worth north of $2.7 billion in an IPO—far more than the private bids. —daniel geiger Leasing rebounds at pricey tower For years, 9 W. 57th St. has ranked as one of the city’s most expensive and exclusive office towers, but its famously mercurial landlord, Sheldon Solow, appeared to hold a leash so tight on who he admitted to the high-end property that the pace of deals ground to a near halt. With rents for his tower bouncing back to their pre-recession heights, Mr. Solow has begun doing deals again. Among them, hedge fund Tiger Global Management took the 50-story building’s entire 35th floor, a roughly 32,000-square-foot space. The asking rent was just north of $175 per square foot,according to the tower’s leasing agent, Scott Panzer, a leading broker at Jones Lang LaSalle. “We have done a very good job of educating the marketplace away from the perception of the past,”Mr.Panzer said.“Now tenants realize that doing a deal with Sheldon is like working with any other great landlord.” Tiger Global Management will relocate from 101 Park Ave.and take the space for 10 years. Paul Amrich, a leasing broker with CBRE, represented the firm in the deal, according to sources. Mr. Amrich couldn’t be reached for comment. —daniel geiger July 8, 2013 | Crain’s New York Business | 9

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - July 8, 2013

Crains New York - July 8, 2013
IN THE MARKETS
BUSINESS PEOPLE
SMALL BUSINESS
INSIDER
REAL ESTATE DEALS
OPINION
GREG DAVID
NICOLE GLAROS
IN THE BOROUGHS
TOURISM REPORT
CLASSIFIEDS
FOR THE RECORD
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - July 8, 2013