BY GUS DELAPORTE

In an effort to diversify the real estate investment trust sector and bring shares of individual real estate to the market, ETRE Financial has launched the first real estate specific trading platform. The platform combines capital markets, asset management, trading, and analysis services into a single system.

“Everyone is familiar with portfolio REITs, but the genesis here was to bring single asset REITs to the marketplace,” Paul Frischer, co-founder and chief executive of ETRE, told The Commercial Observer.

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BY AL BARBARINO

Continental Grain Company has signed a 38,100-square-foot, seven-year sublease and relocation at Boston Properties’ 767 Fifth Avenue – the iconic GM Building. GM Building The New York Post reported that the 200-year-old company will relocate its Midtown headquarters to the GM Building, where it will take the entire 15th floor. The space was one of three floors General Motors has opted to sublease.

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BY BILLY GRAY

A 30-story, 185,000-square-foot Midtown office tower is in the midst of an extensive capital improvement campaign.

Upgrades to the boutique building at 501 Madison Avenue include a new entrance and lobby. Fresh elevator cabs, restrooms and common tenant areas are also being installed. One compelling opportunity at the property is 8,800 square feet of retail space between the ground and second floors.

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BY CHRIS HAVENS

Earlier this year, the Five Guys shop at Fulton and Flatbush, paying $125 per square foot, closed due to insufficient business. Across the street from a top-grossing McDonald’s, Five Guys couldn’t make it. At nearly the same moment, Shake Shack made a deal for $200 per square foot across from Barclays Arena.

What will we see in retail changes around Brooklyn’s theater and arena district, on and around Flatbush Avenue from Fulton to Pacific Streets?

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