But in business news this week, there was a deal you probably won’t read about at book fairs across the country.
Tony Malkin’s Empire State Realty Trust has signed a contract to buy the Scholastic Building in Soho for $386 million, the company announced Tuesday.
The publisher owns the building at 555-557 Broadway and leases most of the space, including 30,000 square feet of offices and 28,000 square feet of retail along Soho’s main shopping street.
Malkin said he was attracted to the property for its local income and ability to add value by marketing its “three uniquely large floors in a block of over 110,000 square metres”.
Scholastic put the property up for sale earlier this year, with a view to a sale-leaseback deal. The publicly traded company reportedly planned to use the proceeds from the sale for “capital allocation priorities,” reducing debt and buying back shares.
The company bought the property in 2014 for $255 million from South Carolina-based landlord ISE America, which had owned it since 1996.
Billy Macklowe’s career hasn’t always been academic, but his bets are never boring. He recently completed construction on a mixed-use project in Park Slope, his first project in Brooklyn, and also developed a 52-unit apartment building at 21 East 12th Street.
Next? His William Macklowe Company acquired the $46 million distressed loan on the 129,000-square-foot, 10-story office building at 291 Broadway from Flagstar Bank.
The sale occurred after Flagstar sued its owner, Sutton Management, in July over missed payments.
The building could be considered for a residential conversion if Macklowe seizes the property or obtains a deed of foreclosure.
Conversions are always a gamble. This also applies to gambling. Fortunately for dice rollers, the endgame for New York’s gaming industry is becoming increasingly clear.
The State Gaming Facility Location Board has recommended casino licenses for the three remaining proposals in Queens and the Bronx: Steve Cohen’s Metropolitan Park, Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point and Resorts World’s expansion of the Queens Aqueduct.
The level of investment for each bid determines the license term: Metropolitan Park and Resorts World are eligible for 20-year licenses, while Bally’s is eligible for a 15-year license.
The proposals, which include plans for hotels, entertainment venues and a focus on “economic activity and business development”, will then go to the Gaming Commission for the final issuance of licenses. This is expected to happen at the end of this month.
Yes, casinos are in a New York state of mind. Nas, famed rapper and Resorts World partner, said it best after the recommendations were released: “It’s a great day in New York City.”
Finally, the Epstein connection to real estate.
The late and disgraced financier privately claimed in 2018 that he “helped bring them into the biz,” and by “them” he meant the founders of Core Club Jennie and Dangene Enterprise, a claim a spokesperson publicly refuted as “baseless.”
Emails released by the House Committee – a trove of 20,000 pages of documents – suggest a personal relationship between Epstein and Jennie Enterprise.
The invite-only Core Club focuses on high-powered clients in the real estate and financial industries, including figures like RFR’s Aby Rosen and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman.
“[I]In no way, shape or form has this individual played any role in the business development of the company, and any suggestion to the contrary is unfounded,” a Core Club spokesperson said.
Epstein, it turns out, was also a reader of The real deal. While his interest in our publication is by no means a point of pride, declassified documents revealed emails with links to TRD articles, what appears to be a saved or printed web story from June 2019. The emails and articles related to a development agreement with Palm Beach.
Read more
State signs agreement with three casinos for NYC
Billy Macklowe buys a $46 million note on the Tribeca office building
Jeffrey Epstein on the founders of Core Club: “I helped them get into the biz”
#Deals #debts #Epsteins #ties #industry