FORT LEE, N.J. (JUNE 12, 2012) — Tucker Development Corporation, a leader in the development of shopping centers and mixed-use properties, today announced that Hudson Lights — the company’s mixed-use development planned for more than eight acres in the heart of downtown Fort Lee, N.J. — has received site plan approval from the Fort Lee Borough Planning Board.

Kent M. Swig just signed two deals at 48 Wall Street, a building the Swig Equities president says is meeting demand for media and communications firms riding the tail winds of media giant, Conde Nast as is prepares to move downtown.

By Al Barbarino

Commercial mortgage brokerage and advisory firm Deerwood Real Estate Capital has arranged $160 million in financing for the Gansevoort Park Hotel at 420 Park Avenue South in Manhattan.

The 10-year, fixed-rate loan will be used to pay off an existing construction loan on the property and was funded by Citigroup and Redwood Trust, said Abe Katz, managing partner at Deerwood.

By Liana Grey

Two Trees, the DUMBO-based development firm, is in talks to acquire the long-troubled Domino Sugar factory site along the Williamsburg waterfront for $160 million.

The pending deal comes after the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), a partner in the development along with Isaac Katan, sought to recapitalize the project after defaulting on a $120 million loan.

What happened in Vegas was discussed at a ReCon Recap event hosted by Adelaide Polsinelli, senior director at Eastern Consolidated, at the Roosevelt Hotel’s rooftop last Wednesday. Real estate players came to toast their success and rehash their experiences in Vegas at ICSC last month. Investors, bankers, owners, attorneys, mortgage brokers, as well as retail brokers, turned out as Eastern Consolidated launched its Retail Trends report from in-house economist, Barbara Byrne Denham.

By Al Barbarino
Beacon Capital Partners and L&L Holding Company have purchased a 27-story, 756,000 s/f office building at 222 Broadway for $230 million from Bank of America Corporation, city records show.

Bank of America, which inherited the property when it bought Merrill Lynch in 2009, announced in February that it planned to sell and lease back 222 Broadway along with two buildings at its Charlotte, North Carolina, headquarters as part of a newly-implemented efficiency program.

By Linda O’Flanagan
Alex Sapir and Rotem Rosen have signed 200,000 s/f in a series of leases at 260 and 261 Madison Avenue after a make-over of both the building and the ownership. The leases are understood to be with Fortune 500 companies that include a financial institution and a media company who will join a tenant base that already includes J.P. Morgan, Signature Bank, Hanes Brand, Sara Lee and American Kennel Club. While he declined to identify the new tenants citing confidentiality agreements, Alex Sapir told Real Estate Weekly, “In the last 12 months, we decided to take a much more active role. We injected capital into the buildings, upgrading the utilities and modernizing the aesthetic and design of the lobbies, elevators and other public spaces.”

By Linda O’Flanagan

Alex Sapir and Rotem Rosen have signed 200,000 s/f in a series of leases at 260 and 261 Madison Avenue after a makeover of both the building and the ownership.

The leases are understood to be with Fortune 500 companies that include a financial institution and a media company that will join a tenant base that already includes J.P. Morgan, Signature Bank, Hanes Brand, Sara Lee and American Kennel Club.

By Liana Grey
Several months ago, Morgan Turkewitz, a broker at Citi Habitats, received an unusual request from two college friends hoping to share an apartment in Manhattan: the pair wanted to take a look at listings and sign a lease all in a single day. The college friends — one grew up in Kentucky, the other in New Jersey — arrived in the city one morning, and toured buildings in the East Village, Murray Hill, and Gramercy Park, all popular destinations for recent graduates. By the afternoon, they’d narrowed their list down to a pair of one-bedrooms in a walkup near Gramercy Park, including one with a subdivided living room suitable for two roommates.