Silverstein Properties' Jeremy Moss Discusses the Future of the WTC

In a recent interview with The Commercial Observer, Silverstein Properties' senior vice president of leasing, Jeremy Moss, discussed the company's leasing efforts at the World Trade Center and its impact on the future of lower Manhattan and the market.

Silverstein Properties is a client of RDM and CEO Peter Boritz says the market is ready for their new vision of downtown:

"It is impressive to see Silverstein Properties' long term commitment to revitalizing New York City's downtown area as well as the city's skyline.  The market is ready for Silverstein's state-of-the-art buildings to lead the way in this re-imagined vision of downtown." - Peter Boritz

You can find the Commercial Observer interview, "Marketing the World" with Jeremy Moss below.

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The Commercial Observer: Can you talk about leasing at 7 World Trade Center?

Mr. Moss: I worked very closely with Roger Silverstein, Larry’s son. He had made my job easy, because he did a big portion of the leasing before I arrived, and once I got here, we were well underway with our leasing campaign. We really validated the World Trade Center to the New York City business community as a place where people could thrive, where they could do business again and be successful. The tenants we have include Moody’s headquarters, with over 600,000 square feet, but we also have creative companies like Omnicom and a premier law firm—WilmerHale—which relocated from Park Avenue, really making a strong statement about the appeal of 7 World Trade Center, even to tenants that are in the most sought-after locations in Midtown. It reflects the broad appeal of the building’s quality, and that’s a quality that will be carried through to all of the other buildings at the site.

Where are you focusing your energy next?

With 7 World Trade Center fully leased, we’re focused on 4 World Trade Center, which will open at the end of 2013. It’s the next chapter in the history of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, and I’m really looking forward to walking people into that lobby and showing them the extraordinary architecture and the views. We are very focused on leasing at that building, and we’re in discussions with a number of different companies looking for larger blocks of space—anywhere from 200,000 to one million [square] feet.

Who are you marketing it to, and what can tenants look forward to?

The lobby has a 46-foot-high ceiling, which creates an extraordinary impression when you enter the building. There’s a granite floor, floor-to-ceiling glass and polished black granite on the wall, which is designed to reflect the park behind you as you enter the lobby, intended to make you feel like you’re outside. I can’t think of another lobby like it in New York City. And up top, you have 360-degree views that are spectacular, and the advantage that we have in the location is that we don’t have any other building obstructing our views—we have views of the river, we have views of Midtown—so it’s really spectacular.

We’re seeing interest from a whole range of different tenants in all sorts of industries, and I think that speaks to two things: the appeal of new construction because of the efficiency it offers and the impact that a sustainable building can have on productivity.

Can you talk more about those impacts?

The buildings are all LEED-certified. That not only has obvious societal benefits, but it has a significant impact on the experience of the people working in the building, their satisfaction level and productivity. The buildings are all designed with floor-to-ceiling glass and extra-high ceilings, which allow for an abundance of natural light to permeate the entire space. The views make everyone feel like they’re working in a special place. And the awareness that the space is having a positive impact on the environment also makes people feel really good about their work space.

What’s the situation at 2 and 3 World Trade Center?

We’re in discussion with tenants that would anchor 3 World Trade Center, which would allow us to continue construction to completion by the end of 2016. Construction started and we built the first few floors, which gives us a significant advantage in terms of the time frame within which we can deliver the building to prospective tenants. Two World Trade Center is complete up to street level, and that’s a building that will be triggered by a lease commitment in the future—by a large anchor tenant.

How do you characterize the changes taking place in lower Manhattan, and how does Silverstein Properties fit into the equation?

There’s a diversification away from financial services. We’re seeing media, technology, advertising firms all moving Downtown for a variety of reasons—including access to transportation. And they are finding that their work force is migrating to surrounding neighborhoods

The population alone has doubled in the last 10 years, the number of hotel rooms has doubled, and you’ve had growth in two of the most desirable neighborhoods in New York City—Battery Park City and Tribeca. People remember a place that was old and crowded and primarily associated with financial services. Today people use words like “cool,” “new,” “high-tech,” “green” and “convenient”—those are not the words people would have used to describe Downtown 20 years ago.

How do you view Hurricane Sandy, and what are you doing to ease concerns of Downtown tenants in the face of future disasters?

Everyone did a really good job of coming back from this. Landlords were working tirelessly and creatively to find solutions. We were very successful in reopening 120 Wall Street within several weeks of the storm by bringing in emergency generators, and on a permanent basis, we’re relocating infrastructure that was previously on the basement level up to a mezzanine level. We’re not alone—other landlords are doing the same thing—and I think that’s going to allow Downtown to continue to be a premier business district.

We started a number of lease transactions at 120 Wall before the hurricane, and once we explained the measures we were taking, we had no issue completing those transactions following the storm.

We’re fortunate at the World Trade Center because our buildings are over 15 feet above sea level. Any water that entered during the storm was a result of the fact that it was an open construction site. Almost all of the mechanical and electrical equipment is located several stories above sea level. We don’t expect any issues.

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RDM Supported Building, 183 Madison, Announces New Majority Owner

NEW YORK CITY - Dissolving its joint venture on the ownership of a Midtown South office building, majority owner IRSA—Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anóma announced Monday ithas purchased the remaining shares in its investment property, at 183 Madison Ave.—from its minority partner, Rigby Asset Management.

Valued at $75 million, the partnership was a successful one for IRSA. When the firm invested in the building, located at the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and 34^th Street, in 2011 when it was 50 percent vacant. Today, the building is 95 percent leased, according to the announcement. An IRSA spokeswoman was unable to report how much IRSA paid Rigby for its shares at press time.

The transition will include the original Cushman & Wakefield leasing team of Harry Blair, senior director, and Sean Kerns, associate director. In addition, Herald Square Properties’ principals Gerard Nocera, Michael Reid and John Monaco have been retained as co-asset managers, along with the IRSA International management team.

IRSA’s officials touted their own success.“IRSA’s commitment to elevating the value of this asset has produced tangible results quickly,” boasts Daniel Elzstain, director, in the announcement. “Not only is the building well-tenanted, our restoration program achieved a landmark designation for the lobby and façade, and our infrastructure upgrades made it more desirable for a variety of businesses.”

Styled in the Beaux Arts tradition, the 250,000-square-foot, circa 1925 office building has a wide range of tenants that include traditional apparel companies, such as Everlast and Charles Komar & Sons; technology and software firms like Rubicon Software and Destination Media; and the New York offices of Grand Marnier. The building stands tall at 19-stories.

Adds Blair in the announcement, “The speed of the leasing campaign exceeded all expectations, especially going from nearly vacant to almost fully occupied in under two years.”

In fact, he adds, tenants have been known to give the building good press. “The irony that one of our tenants publishes ‘Great Places to Work’ kind of says it all.”

IRSA’s other commercial asset in New York City is the famed Lipstick Building at 885 Third Aves, between 53^rd and 54^th Streets. The world-renowned Philip Johnson-designed office tower is 95 percent occupied and its largest tenant is Latham & Watkins, an international law firm.

Since 2009, IRSA’s activity in the U.S. has also included investments in two publicly-traded hospitality REITs, comprising Supertel Hospitality, Inc., a group of approximately 94 hotels primarily in the Midwest; and Hersha Hospitality Trust, which owns over 50 hotels in gateway cities, including 20 in the greater New York metro area.

Original article by Rayna Katz for GlobeSt.com

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Historic Helmsley Building Lights Up NYC

Earlier this week, Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer and Monday Properties CEO Anthony Westreich unveiled New York City's newest lighted attraction; 230 Park Ave; aka The Helmsley Building.

The building's entire north facade, as well as the entire top of the building, are now bathed in colored light from new, computer-controlled LED lighting; which will both highlight the building architecture with static light or create a festive light display for holidays or special events.

The colors and brightness of each of the 700 fixtures can be manipulated independently and instantaneously; it’s also 71% more efficient than the previous roof fixtures, according to Monday Properties SVP of property management and operations Hani Salama. 

In 2010, after a more than $100 million renovation, 230 Park became the first pre-war office building in the Big Apple to earn Gold Leed status -- an internationally recognized designation for being an environmentally friendly building.

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RDM Client Monday Properties Wins 2 TOBY Awards

Monday Properties' “Twin Towers” Class A office buildings, 1000 and 1100 Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn, VA have earned a LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Buildings Council.

In a related action, the two buildings also were awarded The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY Award) for buildings over 1 million square feet by the Apartment and Office Building Association (AOBA) for the metropolitan Washington and Virginia market. AOBA is an affiliate of the national Building Owners and Management Association (BOMA). This local award now entitles the Twin Towers to compete for BOMA’s regional and international-level TOBY Awards.

A neighboring Monday Properties office building in Rosslyn, 1101 Wilson Boulevard was also given a TOBY Award by AOBA for buildings between 250,000 - 499,999 square feet.

Tim Helmig, Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer of Monday Properties, said, “Our ongoing priority to implement sustainable operating efficiencies at 1000 and 1100 Wilson Boulevard has produced significant cost savings. More importantly, the LEED Gold certification we earned from those efforts has created measurable recognition of the working environment we provide to our tenants.”

Among the green efficiencies implemented at the buildings are manager-controlled water conservation standards, building-wide VAV ventilation efficiencies that reduce electricity consumption, ambient light sensors and time scheduling of all common area lighting, restroom lighting control, CO monitors in the parking garage for ventilation control, operational changes on the buildings’ boiler, and achieving an EnergyStar® rating of 93.

In addition, Monday Properties re-purposed a mis-engineered highway off ramp to create Freedom Park, a vest pocket urban amenity for the community of Rosslyn and the buildings’ tenants.

About Monday Properties:
Monday Properties is a dynamic real estate investment firm that operates each property within its portfolio. Founded in 1998, the company focuses on two of the world’s leading real estate markets: New York City and the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. Since 2002, Monday Properties has completed over $9.8 billion in transactions representing 21.9 million square feet. Monday Properties co-invests its own capital alongside its partners and investors, creating a clear alignment of interest and an incentive to realize value.

About AOBA:
AOBA is the leading membership organization representing owners/managers of commercial office buildings and multi-family residential real estate in the Washington, DC region. AOBA members enjoy membership benefits in its national affiliates: the Building Owners and Managers Association International (BOMA) and the National Apartment Association. For details, visit www.aoba-metro.org

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Monday Properties is a client of Real Data Management.  The information in this post provided by Monday Properties.

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Clients in the News: SL Green

RDM client SL Green purchases 2 Midtown South office buildings.

SL Green has snapped up another two Midtown South office buildings—the 104k SF 635 Sixth Ave and the 163k SF 641 Sixth Ave—for $173M from Atlas Capital Group in an off-market buy, the REIT announced this morning. Here’s SL Green CEO Marc Holliday and prez Andrew Mathias, who dropped the hint during June’s REITWeek that they’d be making more purchases in the second half of the year—and that it had its eye on expanding in Midtown South, widely regarded as the hottest office submarket in the country. (Earlier this year, it bought 304 Park Ave South for $135M.) The two adjoining properties were originally built as one department store back in 1902. 635 Sixth was delivered vacant, recently left by Apex Technical School, while the multi-tenant 641 Sixth houses tech firms like Google and Infor. They also have a combined 47k SF of retail.
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This post courtesy: Bisnow

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RDM Clients Discuss Third Ave Spaces in Crains NY

RDM clients Mitchell Konsker of Jones Lang LaSalle and Gerard Nocera of Herald Square Properties weigh in on availability of low-cost commercial spaces on Third Avenue in recent Crain's New York article.



Bargain-minded tenants find large space blocks aplenty
by Steve Garmhausen
Crain's New York Business

Psst. Looking for big blocks of office space at competitive prices, but don’t want to leave midtown? Then swing over to Third Avenue between East 38th and East 60th streets. There, nearly 60 years after the Third Avenue El was torn down, and the Durst family and others began putting up high-rise office towers, a growing glut of available space beckons.

“Third Avenue is the softest market in midtown,” said Alan Desino, executive managing director at real estate firm Colliers International. “There’s no question that is where the best bargains are.”

In the first quarter of this year, the avenue’s availability rate leaped to 17.8%, from 15.2% in the prior quarter with a rate of 11.7% in midtown north as a whole during the same period.

Powering that rise along Third were acres of office space hitting the market in large dollops at several towers. The biggest of those availabilities is the half-million square feet up for grabs at TIAA-CREF’s 685 Third Ave., just a block up the avenue from 150 E. 42nd St. – on the corner of Third Avenue – where neighborhood mega-tenant Pfizer recently added 274,200 square feet to the market. In all, there are half a dozen buildings along the avenue that have, or will have within 12 months, at least 100,000 square feet of contiguous available space, Mr. Desino noted.

Spurred to action
The abundance of space, combined with still-subdued demand, is prompting owners to take action. The owners of buildings, including those along the avenue at 747, 767 and 850, have poured money into creating handsome pre-built office space to lure smaller tenants. Others are offering months of free rent, and in some cases even striking deals at well below their asking prices.

Third Avenue has always been less pricey than Park or the Plaza district, but in recent months some brokers note that rents have actually sunk below those of Manhattan’s former bargain basement midtown south. There, where vacancy rates are the lowest of any business district in the nation – 9.5%, according to CBRE – rents have risen despite the recession.

Third Avenue has a number of important things going for it, including a building stock that is significantly younger than the citywide average, and far younger than the citywide average, and far younger than midtown south’s.

“It’s not just a cheaper alternative; it’s one with a good product,” said Mitchell Konsker, vice chairman with Jones Lang Lasalle, who is an agent for 757 and 850 Third Ave., among others. He added that a number of tenants looking for 100,000 or more square feet of contiguous space are kicking tires along the avenue. “There’s a limited amount of large blocks of space in midtown, and I believe that in 12 to 24 months, we will see a tremendous amount of appreciation in rental values [alone Third Avenue].”

In the meantime, there are signs that the avenue’s lower rents are drawing a crowd. Among the recent arrivals is Colchester Globar Investors, which left pricey Park Avenue to take up 4,000 square feet at 885 Third Ave. late last year, according to Gerard Nocera, a principal with Herald Square Properties, which manages the building. Other newcomers include accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron, which took 86,000 feet at 685 Third and leased 14,000 feet at 850 Third.

Meanwhile, bargains are common on the avenue but far from universal. At 885 Third, the oval tower commonly known as the Lipstick Building, rents start in the upper $70s range. But its high-end design and good location have allowed landlords IRSA and Marciano Investment Group to keep occupancy at 90%. Their willingness to pre-build spaces has also helped. Three of the four spaces recently prebuilt on the 26th floor, using snazzy designs by architecture firm Gensler, have already been leased, according to Mr. Nocera.

“Bright future”
Investors, too, are betting on the market. In February, Paramount Group Real Estate Fund IV spent $172 million to buy up the 49% of 900 Third Ave. that it didn’t already own.

“We believe Third Avenue has a bright future, particularly for those assets on the eastern edge of the Plaza district,” said Dan Lauer, Paramount’s vice president of acquisitions, in an email. He described the 595,000-square-foot, 40-year-old property as a “classic workhorse” that had until recently maintained an occupancy rate of more than 95%. Today it is slightly below that rate, according to the company.

Now all that needs to happen is for other landlords along the avenue to find a way to do that as well.
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This article originally from Crain's New York Business.

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RDM Floor Plans Support Lease at 80 Broad

RDM’s Marketing Floor Plans support Newmark Knight Frank and Savanna with recent leasing activity at 80 Broad.

April 11, 2012 - CoStar Group: Forte Capital Group leased 10,225 square feet at 80 Broad Street in New York City. Occupancy is scheduled for July.

80 Broad Street is a 36-story, 410,000-square-foot office building constructed in 1930 in the Financial District, and renovated in 2007.

Forte Capital Group is a securities trading firm which trades U.S. Government treasuries and agencies, corporate high grade to distressed debt, convertible bonds, preferreds, municipal bonds and sovereign and emerging debt.

Hank Walker and Joel Weinberg of UGL Services Equis Operations Company represented the tenant. Hal Stein, Adam Leshowitz and Todd Stracci of Newmark Knight Frank represented the landlord, Savanna.
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Post originally by Carol T. Peterson for CoStar.com.

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RDM Client Competes in National Building Competition

This week, the Environmental Protection Agency will announce the winner of their 2010 National Building Competition which began on April 27th as a way to encourage commercial buildings to save energy and fight climate change. The competition drew in over 200 applicants from around the country, however only fourteen buildings were selected to compete and include schools, hotels, dormitories, stores, offices, museums, and other buildings seen in communities and cities every day.

Each building will measure and track their monthly energy consumption with the EPA’s online energy tracking tool; Portfolio Manager. Portfolio Manager is an interactive energy management tool that allows property owners to track and assess energy and water consumption across their entire portfolio of buildings in a secure online environment. Participants will also receive tips on “slimming down” their carbon footprint from Bob Harper (of TV’s The Biggest Loser) as well as from managers and engineers from other highly rated buildings, and the Energy Star Program.

The winner of the competition, which is to be announced on Tuesday, October 26th, will be the building which has successfully demonstrated the greatest percentage-based reduction in energy use intensity over the contest period.

Among the contestants in the National Building Competition, RDM client, Hines has entered their 595, 430 square foot building at 522 5th Avenue. The 23 story building was constructed in 1896 and is home to several retail tenants as well financial offices.

Since obtaining the building in 2009, Hines has taken several measures to improve energy conservation including replacing a steam turbine with a high-efficiency drive chiller, installing frequency drivers on mains and fans and installing motion sensors and upgraded lighting throughout the building. As well, the company encourages its occupants to participate in energy saving opportunities. The building managers are also in the process of installing an energy dashboard in the building lobby to show real-time energy consumption, carbon footprint and cooling loads. (Source: Energy Star)

Many of RDM’s clients are also taking steps to promote energy conservation and green initiatives throughout their portfolios. Such efforts by real estate companies help the environment as well as promote a positive image of the Real Estate industry.

About Hines:
Hines is a privately owned, international real estate firm that has provided the highest level of quality, service and value to its clients and investors for more than 50 years. Since its inception in 1957, Hines has created projects of the highest quality, aesthetic relevance and enduring value for its investor partners, clients and local communities. Working with such notable architects as Cesar Pelli, Frank Gehry, I.M. Pei and Philip Johnson, Hines has redefined the way developers interact with and treat architecture, promoting a balance between function, beauty and sustainability and reshaping skylines around the world.

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A Look Back At RDM in 2009

The last year had its share of highs and lows as individuals and organizations all over the world maneuvered their way through the worst recession in United States history. At Real Data Management, we understand how difficult this year has been, but before we welcome the upcoming year and focus on new challenges ahead, we would like to take a moment to look back at what RDM has been up to over the last year.

In the last year, we have had the opportunity to work with some exciting new clients such as:

• Behringer Harvard – the RDM team went to Las Vegas and New Hampshire to help the company establish consistency in their building measurements and floor plans.
• Hidrock Realty, Inc. – the RDM team measured five of their New York City office buildings, helping to maximize the use of their square footage.
• The Hampshire Companies – the RDM team measured three multi-use office/warehouse buildings in New Jersey and Connecticut.

This year also brought some new changes from the FDNY to Emergency Action Plans and Fire Safety Plans. RDM helped hundreds of building owners with the new changes to LL26 which require additional details to floor plans.

In the last year, we have successfully launched our new, web-based space management software for residential and commercial real estate. Our Real Access™ Multi-Family and Real Access™ Commercial software can be used with existing CAD floor plans and features:

• Interactive Stacking Grids
• Floor plans that can be emailed, printed or exported to Excel
• Easily create space layout scenarios
• Ability to move and allocate tenants or employees

We have also announced our partnership with Noveda Technologies, to help buildings become greener utilizing Energy Monitoring Systems. This breakthrough technology will help cities such as New York and DC, which require buildings to monitor energy consumption, track their energy use in real time. RDM’s partnership with Noveda Technologies will help provide a cost-effective way to track your energy consumption as well as help buildings in other cites as energy tracking becomes a standard across the nation.

As you can see, we have been very busy over the last year and are looking forward to the New Year and the new opportunities that it will bring. As 2009 comes to a close, we would like to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday.

See you in the New Year!

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Colliers ABR Merges with Affiliates

by Peter Boritz

Colliers ABR announced that they will be merging with Baltimore, DC, and St. Louis affiliates. This move appears to provide Colliers with a stronger platform to more effectively keep up with the widespread consolidation in the real estate industry.

One challenge all brokerage firms are facing is how to differentiate themselves. With all this merger activity, I believe it's important that firms focus on brand awareness and expertise.

RDM provides services and technology to all the major firm such as CBRE, Cushman and Wakefield, Newmark Knight Frank, and Colliers. We have been providing services to Colliers ABR for many years. They have a very solid platform and team of professionals that will bring significant value to the other offices. We wish them all the best.

Today, since the world is flat and functions on a 24-7 basis, smaller firms can survive and thrive by concentrating on local business. The larger firms are better situated to service clients looking for a global platform and major resources. Once thing that has not changed in real estate is the importance of the individual relationship between client and broker. This, not just capabilities, very often determines which firm gets a project.

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