Deals & Deeds
Newmark brokers cited for Starwood deal
The relocation deal brokered by Newmark Knight Frank that brings Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. headquarters to Stamford, Conn., from White Plains early next year has been chosen the best lease of 2010 in the nation by Commercial Property Executive, a commercial real estate trade magazine.
CPE”™s new awards program, the Distinguished Achievement Awards, recognizes outstanding sale and lease deals, projects and strategies in a national competition judged by real estate industry professionals.
John Goodkind, managing principal at Newmark Knight Frank”™s Greenwich, Conn., office, and Neal Golden and Ross Perlman of Newmark”™s New York headquarters, were cited for brokering Starwood”™s approximately 300,000-square-foot-lease at Stamford”™s Harbor Plaza mixed-use development, owned by Building and Land Technology and Lubert-Adler.
The deal, which took four years to complete, was aided by approximately $90 million in loans and tax breaks from the state of Connecticut. Starwood is moving some 800 employees from 1111 Westchester Ave. and 1133 Westchester Ave. in White Plains.
CPE in its award announcement said judges praised the deal”™s complexity, its public-private aspects, the long nationwide search, its contribution to urban redevelopment and economic development, its location in a transit-oriented development and its size and sustainability.
One of the only major tenants to relocate in north suburban New York during the economic downturn, Starwood “legitimized the neighborhood,” judges said. “They took advantage of a tough environment to get the deal done.”
International marketer leases in Harrison
Lornamead Inc., a leading international marketer of personal care brands, will relocate its U.S. sales and marketing office from High Ridge Park in Stamford, Conn., to 500 Mamaroneck Ave. in Harrison, said Jeffrey H. Newman, executive vice president of Malkin Properties, the building”™s landlord.
The company will lease 3,883 square feet of first-floor office space through 2017. Malkin Construction will build out the space.
Founded in 1978 and headquartered in the United Kingdom, Lornamead through acquisitions has assembled a portfolio of heritage brands of hair care, cosmetics and skin care and tooth-whitening products, fragrances and bath items. The company also has offices in Germany, India and the United Arab Emirates.
Newman and Malkin Properties leasing associate Tara L. Long represented the landlord in the transaction. Lornamead was represented by Michael McCarthy of Colliers International.
NYCRG brokers four deals in county
Brokers at New York Commercial Realty Group (NYCRG) in Harrison recently closed four deals for tenants that totaled 25,050 square feet of office and flex space.
At 800 Westchester Ave. in Rye Brook, Precision Valve Corp. signed a long-term lease for 7,250 square feet of office space. The former Yonkers manufacturer is relocating its Westchester County office from Nepperhan Avenue in Yonkers, where it closed its plant in 2009 and moved industrial operations to South Carolina.
Landlord, RPW Group Inc. was represented by Cushman & Wakefield Inc. in the deal.
At 56 Harrison St. in New Rochelle, The Wartburg Group signed an office lease for 4,000 square feet of space. NYCRG was the sole broker.
At 75 Calvert St. in Harrison, NYCRG represented tenant Interstate Fire & Safety in a long-term lease for 7,400 square feet of flex space.
Scott Benson, of Benson Commercial Realty Inc. in Tarrytown, represented the landlord.
In Mamaroneck, NYCRG represented Gerry Musano in his $1-million purchase of 109 Spencer Place, a 6,400-square-foot office building. Gerry Houlihan, of Houlihan & O”™Malley Real Estate in Bronxville, represented the seller.