I assumed that Vornado was behind the LLCs buying this stuff. Apparently, not!
Virnado owns the corner property on 34th and 8th, and the two small structures just east of the corner building.
The next building (ie, the fourth one in from the corner of 8th Ave) housed the Bagman store, and its address is 261 W 34th St. It was recently sold to an LLC and is vacant. I assumed that Votnado bought it, but maybe Chetrit did, As he owns everything east of the Bagman (with the two exceptions noted below).
Anyway, here are three articles from today:
Iron Hound Secures $185M in Two NYC Debt Deals for Chetrit Group
By Danielle Balbi Dec. 22, 2015, 12:46 p.m.
So far December has been a fruitful month for Joseph Chetrit and his family and friends.
In the past week, the Chetrit Group and its various joint venture partners closed $185 million in debt across two projects, Commercial Observer has learned.
Iron Hound Management Company brokered both transactions, which include a $115 million loan from Fortress Investment Group for a development in downtown Brooklyn and a $70 million loan from SL Green Realty Corp. on a row of empty retail shops on West 34th Street…
As for Chetrit’s latest development in Midtown Manhattan, the firm originally acquired a total of seven parcels from 245-261 West 34th Street in partnership with Cornell Realty Management in two separate transactions for a total of $31.5 million from discount retailer Conway Stores in January 2014.
The two firms are no longer developing the sites together and split the assets, Mr. Verrone of Iron Hound confirmed. Chetrit is using the proceeds of the loan to fund the predevelopment of 251-257 West 34th Street. The vacant retail stores will be demolished and replaced with a mixed-use retail and hotel project.
The two recent debt deals are part of a wave of financings the Chetrit Group has closed this month. On Dec. 7, the family-run real estate dynasty landed an $11 million construction loan from Puerto Rico-based Popular Community Bank to develop a multifamily rental building at 150-01 88th Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. Just across the street, the development firm is constructing a massive multifamily complex on the site of a former hospital.
This past summer, Chetrit and Clipper Equities took out a $345 million financing package—a $280 million senior loan led by Natixis Real Estate Capital and $65.5 million mezzanine loan from Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance—for a condominium conversion in Gramercy Park. Chetrit is also working on a condo conversion of the Sony Building in Midtown.
Representatives for the Chetrit Group and Fortress Investment Group did not respond to inquiries by time of publication. Representatives for JDS Development Group and SL Green Realty Corp. declined to comment.
Chetrit closes $185M in financing across two projects
Debt will be used for Chetrit and JDS resi project in Brooklyn, West 34th Street redevelopment
December 23, 2015 02:20PM
Dime Savings Bank BK
Clockwise from left: 9 Dekalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, Joseph Chetrit and Michael Stern
It’s been a busy holiday season for Joseph Chetrit, with the Chetrit Group and its partners closing $185 million in debt financing for two separate projects in the past week.
The deals include a $115 million floating-rate loan from Fortress Investment Group, which the Chetrit Group and Michael Stern’s JDS Development Group are using on two separate Downtown Brooklyn properties. They plan on both refinancing existing debt on the former Dime Savings Bank of New York, at 9 DeKalb Avenue, and funding their acquisition of an adjacent site at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension, according to the New York Observer.
Chetrit and JDS acquired the former bank building from JPMorgan Chase for $90 million earlier this year. The two firms are expected to use the site’s 300,000 square feet of air rights to construct a residential skyscraper rising more than 1,000 feet at the neighboring 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension, which they partnered to buy for $43.5 million last year.
Chetrit also sealed a $70 million loan from SL Green Realty for a row of empty retail shops on West 34th Street in Midtown. The developer acquired the seven parcels, at 245-261 West 34th Street, in partnership with Cornell Realty Management, for a combined $31.5 million.
Iron Hound Management brokered both transactions for Chetrit Group and its partners. [NYO] – Rey Mashayekhi
Hager’s Cornell Realty nabs another 34th Street building for assemblage
Moran family has owned retail property for nearly 40 years
December 23, 2015 03:10PM
By Katherine Clarke
Shifra Hager’s Cornell Realty Management added another property to its already extensive holdings on West 34th Street.
The Red Hook-based development and investment firm shelled out $20.5 million for a 6,418-square-foot retail property at 259 West 34th Street, according to Aron Taub of GFI Realty, who brokered the deal. The property comprises a total 21,690 buildable square feet, according to PropertyShark.
The building, which is currently occupied by a Wendy’s restaurant, has belonged to the Moran family since 1977, records show. The Morans used to operate an Irish bar at the location, known as the Blarney Stone.
The building is just the latest in a string of acquisitions by Cornell along the 34th Street corridor. Last year, the firm partnered with the Chetrit Group to buy 245 and 247 West 34th Street for a combined $31.5 million. The partnership followed up that purchase with a $41 million deal for 251 and 253 West 34th Street and then a $20 million deal for 255 West 34th Street.
The assembled properties total close to 150,000 buildable square feet.
The only remaining properties standing in the way of a complete assemblage appear to be 257 West 34th Street, which has been in the same family since 1997, and 249 West 34th Street, which has been under the same ownership since 1995.
Cornell and Chetrit previously filed plans to build a 17-story, mixed-use hotel property on the first site, at 245 West 34th Street last December. It’s not clear if they plan to scrap those plans in favor of one larger project or build two separate properties on the street.
Cornell is just one of several developers to look toward the Penn Station area for upside, especially in the wake of Vornado Realty Trust’s announcement earlier this year that it would invest hundreds of millions in new retail space, public plazas and other infrastructure in the area.
“The demand for hotel and retail along 34th Street is very strong,” Taub said. “There is very heavy pedestrian traffic there.”
This is the whole site. Vornado’s corner building is pictured on the left. It’s covered in colored billboards.
Virnado owns the two little buildings to the right.
It seems that Chetrit owns Bagman and everything to the right.
