The National Basketball Association has just scored a grand space at Joseph Moinian’s 545 Fifth Ave. on the southeast corner of East 45th Street.

Sources close to the NBA confirmed that the organization that represents the teams has finally settled on a dramatic new space for its fans to stock up on gear and mingle with players.

According to a description on 42stories.com, the first floor of retail has 76 feet of frontage along Fifth and another 80 feet on East 45th. The second floor runs 149 feet on East 45th, which is a heavily foot-trafficked commuter side street to and from Grand Central Terminal.

But to get the full-court Fifth Avenue frontage, the Starbucks currently there is being moved to East 45th, sources shared.

The NBA store famously locked in a $15.2 million payout in 2011 for its former 35,000-square-foot triplex at 666 Fifth Ave., which it had leased in 1997. Since then, it has been in temporary space at 590 Fifth Ave. while dribbling around the city looking for another slam dunk.

While some brokers believed the tourist-heavy sports attraction would have its best shot in Times Square due to the extended selling hours and other retail experts bet it would lease near Madison Square Garden, the multi-team owners apparently have been laser-focused on Fifth.

Brokers say Newmark Grubb Knight Frank has been representing the NBA, but a company spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.

City permits show a 23,957-square-foot spread is being changed to a retail use group that allows more amusements and entertainment.

Karen Bellantoni of RKF has been representing the Moinian Group for the entire block-front between 44th and 45th streets that also includes Moinian’s retail space in 535 Fifth Ave. Neither she nor Moinian returned calls for comment.


Great Ink has signed a Great Lease.

The real estate public relations company founded by Roxanne Donovan some 21 years ago will move on Friday and double in size from 2,000 square feet at 27 Union Square West into 4,000 square feet at 171 Madison Ave. “The suite is on the lucky seventh floor,” said Donovan, who negotiated the deal directly with Jeff Gural and his son, Eric, who own both buildings.

“I got a lot of great advice from my sister-in-law, Mary Ann Tighe, tri-state president of CBRE, along the way, as well as from my many friends in brokerage,” said Donovan. “They are building me beautiful space, designed by my client Whitehall Interiors, and I am hoping for another 21 years of great luck in that space for my business, my amazing team and my clients.”

Another real estate public relations company, The Marino Organization, which has clients that include the Moinian Group and the Real Estate Board of New York, is located on the 12th floor.

Wednesday night, Nov. 12, Donovan and Tighe will be at Gotham Hall for the Joan’s Legacy anti-lung cancer fundraiser for the charity named after Tighe’s late sister.


Gary Tischler and Richard Coles of Emmes are in contract to sell 623 Broadway for $56 million to Eli Cohen. The deal was done without brokers and none of the parties could be reached for comment.

The nearly 38,000-square-foot Soho property near Mercer Street was purchased by Emmes for $41,930,000 from ISE Realty Group in August 2013 — just over a year ago.

ISE America is a Japanese-owned company that was sued in 2008 by animal rights groups for printing “Animal Care Certified” on its New Jersey egg cartons.

Chase has a bank branch on the ground floor and documents show it had an expiring 25-year lease with a purchase option if the building was ever converted to a residential co-op or condominium. Emmes recast the lease before agreeing to this sale, sources said.


The Compass Group has renewed its lease on the 30th floor of 135 E. 57th St. on the northwest corner of Lexington Avenue. The asking rent for the elegant 7,800-square-foot tower space with 360-degree views was in the $90s per square foot.

The investment management firm has a primary focus on emerging markets geared to Latin America, with more than $23 billion under management.

The renewal at the 32-story tower was negotiated for Compass by David Kaplansky of Colliers International.

Marc Horowitz represented Cohen Brothers Realty Corp. in-house in the transaction.