The Milk Studios building in the Meatpacking District has a lot to — er — moo about.
Longtime tenant inVentiv Health has just renewed and expanded to 75,000 square feet, bringing the building at 450 West 15th St. to 100-percent occupancy.
The building owners are also relocating the ugly loading docks from what is turning into a luxury shopping district on West 14th Street to its West 15th Street side by capturing some land next door from the outgoing Mobil station, some of which will be redeveloped into retail by the Millers of Real Estate Equities.
Public documents show Milk Studios also reserved the right in the future to create a new deck by the High Line — at least 4 feet above the roof of the new retail stores that will be developed by the Millers.
As reported by eater.com, the coffee bar Blue Bottle is also moving into a new stop to the east of the 15th Street lobby. The company already has a concession stand on the High Line, and its new 800-square-foot spot at Milk Studios was negotiated by Karen Bellantoni of RKF.
According to Ryan Jackson of Stellar Management, which owns the Milk Studios building, the loading dock relocation will provide a contiguous 14th Street retail corridor.
“It’s a benefit for the neighborhood, and that was the genesis of the transaction,” said Stellar’s Jackson. “Now the fun really begins, in implementing and executing.”
The building’s pioneering tenant, inVentiv, moved to its more than 50,000-square-foot space on part of the sixth and the entire seventh floor about a decade ago. They will now expand into the last block of 21,000 square feet on part of the fourth floor.
“The space overlooks the High Line, which used to be grass and rust, and now they have the beautiful High Line Park,” added Jackson.
Paul Myers and Michael Movshovich of CBRE represented the tenant in the renewal and expansion deal. Michael Dreizen, Brian Waterman and Jimmy Kuhn of Newmark Knight Frank represented Stellar in the lease, which had an asking rent in the $60s per square foot — yes, you read that right — as desirability and lack of space in the area is seriously pushing rents.
As for the adjacent Mobil station, public documents revealed Real Estate Equities’ Michael Miller and son Brandon have finally closed on the $26,278,098 land lease of the site from Erez Shternlicht, who also owns Milk Studios.
We first reported on this ongoing transaction several years ago, which was arranged by Douglas Harmon of Eastdil Secured. Documents show the 48-year lease includes an option to buy in the first seven years.
Now, the Millers tell me they plan to build approximately 25,000 square feet of brand new retail along that short but prominent Tenth Avenue blockfront between West 14th and 15th Streets. Signage can be larger than that allowed in the rest of the Meatpacking District, even though it faces the West Side Highway.
To close the deal, Steve Fenster of the Carlton Group arranged equity and a $12.5 million mortgage with Dominick and Michael Alfieri of New Jersey. They are now part of the venture with the Millers.
The Millers said asking rents for the new, approximately 17,000 square feet of retail space along Tenth Avenue will be $375 a foot. A 9,000-square-foot lower level is also planned.
Permits are in place for demolition, and construction will follow.
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After a long search, the Alzheimer’s Association, New York City Chapter, has renewed and doubled its size to 30,420 square feet at 360 Lexington Ave. in a 15-year deal. The building has already upgraded its lobby and other systems, as promised during the long negotiations.
The nonprofit, which provides free services to caregivers and those with early-stage Alzheimer’s, currently has 15,210 square feet on the fourth floor. That lease ends in mid-July 2016, but blessed with funds and programming for an expanding clientele, it needed to expand, pronto.
David Kaplansky of Jones Lang LaSalle had brought the association to the building years ago when it first leased 10,000 square feet on another floor. He took the executives on tours of many buildings. Then he learned half the third floor was vacant but not being marketed, while the tenant on the other half, Bentley Associates, had a lease that ended this year. “When we discovered half the floor was available, we approached the landlord, AEW, to take the entire floor of 15,210 square feet,” said Kaplansky.
Wendy Miller of Cassidy Turley represented the AEW ownership in the negotiations for the floor, which had an asking rent in the mid-$40s per foot.
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Last week’s tragic elevator accident at 285 Madison Ave. may or may not be the result of faulty brakes or a “jumper” wire left by service reps or yet another cause.
Regardless, we’ve discovered that those buildings that award elevator service contracts to the low bidder without oversight and stringent contract clauses may be endangering the public.
For instance, if certain parts are expected to be included in the fee for the service contract, the elevator company does not have an incentive to replace these worn-out pieces of the elevator — like the brakes — until they fail.
Worn brake parts cause the elevators to lurch and bump, and a brake-part failure — or even manually backing off an adjustment nut too much while working on the elevator — will cause the car to suddenly surge up the shaft while bypassing other safety controls, like those requiring the interior doors to shut first.
Additionally, some service companies have more stringent safety rules than others — both union and nonunion shops. For instance, some have strict rules about the use of, and color of, the wires used to “jump” the safety measures while working on the elevators, so the wires don’t get left behind, as happened last year in another horrible accident.
Many building owners and managers are telling me that they are now reviewing their elevators, but it is sad that it took this tragedy to get them to do so.
