THE ink is barely dry on a new lease in SoHo for the vintage tattoo wear shop, Ed Hardy.
The new flagship city location at 49 Mercer, between Grand and Broome streets, will have 3,000 feet on the ground along with a 2,500-foot selling basement. The asking rent for the ground was $120 a foot and the deal was made close to that number.
The Los Angeles-based retailer is the brainchild of Christian Audigier, who previously put Von Dutch on the map.
The designs are based on those by tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy and favored by celebs such as Ludacris and Madonna.
A small shop is already open on W. 13th Street in the Meatpacking District and others can be found around the world, with many located in Asia.
Peter Brause and Barry Senet of Sierra Realty represented building owner DL Mercer and also found the tenant.
“They are doing great numbers in Meatpacking and think they will really blow it out in SoHo,” said Brause.
The hot street has Vivienne Tam coming to the corner in the Andre Balasz-owned building at 40 Mercer St., while Australian boot maker Ugg has a small store nearby at 79 Mercer St. Also, retailer Scoop just opened in a major retail space that extends from Broadway to Mercer.
“That block is happening,” said Brause.
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Woody Heller and Howard Nottingham of Studley took home the prestigious Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Award given out by the Real Estate Board of New York at Club 101 last night.
Heller and Nottingham’s entry, Creation of a New Home for New York Law School, included the sale of the site at 240 Church St. and the construction of a 200,000 foot building for its library, classrooms and student space on an adjacent parking lot. A second phase will connect the buildings with existing structures.
This first place award is now known as the Henry Hart Rice Award after a previous winner.
The second place Robert T. Lawrence Award went to Clinton W. Blume Jr. of ABS Partners Real Estate for The General Society/G&B Societies Lease at 20 West 44th St. After a sale of the building, Blume was able to relocate all its not-for-profit tenants in one location.
The third place Edward S. Gordon Award was presented to Andrew J. Singer and Kathleen McSharry of The Singer & Bassuk Organization for 20 Exchange Place Development Financing.
The brokers had to negotiate with 20 different entities to secure financing for the conversion of the 57-story, 800,000 foot office building into a mixed use office, retail and residential complex.
These awards, won from a field of 21 entries, are akin to the Academy Awards for the city’s real estate brokerage elite and were given out at the REBNY Sales Broker Committee’s annual cocktail party.
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The law firm of Tarter Krinsky & Drogin is moving to Herald Square at 1350 Broadway, the W&H Properties building that’s undergoing a $50 million renovation.
The lawyers are moving from 470 Park Avenue South to 16,550 feet on the 11th floor as part of a lease that runs for the next 10 years and seven months. This marks the first deal the building has signed since joining the W&H brand in January.
Owners 1350 Broadway Associates LLC, led by L. Malkin, was represented by Brian Waterman and Jonathan Fanuzzi of Newmark Knight
