BY DANIEL GEIGER

Before Jeff Sutton and SL Green formed a partnership to acquire 1552 Broadway last summer, the diminutive landmark was best known for the four female Broadway stars on its facade.

Theater buffs trolling the neighborhood often visited the two-story building for the stone figurines of Ethel Barrymore, Marilyn Miller, Rosa Ponselle and Mary Pickford mounted on its second level in the 1920s. But with a T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant as its tenant, the building had otherwise become virtually indistinguishable from the bonanza of big-ticket retailers that have come to dominate Times Square.

Nonetheless, SL Green and Mr. Sutton, widely considered one of the city’s most savvy retail investors, saw greater potential for the 15,000-square-foot asset—a fact indicated by the price they agreed to pay its owner, the Riese Organization. Indeed, at more than $136.5 million, the sale last year amounted to a shocking $9,100 per square foot, more than a dozen analysts and real estate executives told The Commercial Observer in a series of interviews last week.

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BY DANIEL EDWARD ROSEN

Years before Chipotle Mexican Grill became a calorie-packed part of Midtown’s daily diet, the burrito maker was mapping a path into the New York City marketplace.

In 2002, after launching in Washington D.C. and other suburban markets, Chipotle turned to Kenneth Hochhauser and Jeffrey Roseman, who subsequently turned to internal data accumulated by the former Newmark Knight Frank to determine an ideal location for Chipotle’s flagship store in New York City.

“They understood their business model, in that the bulk of their business came during lunch, so we focused on where the heaviest lunch concentration would have been,” recalled Mr. Hochhauser.

Now an executive vice president with the Winick Realty Group, Mr. Hochhauser, 45, recalled his days at Newmark Knight Frank pairing data with Chipotle’s own statistical analysis to determine where best to expand the brand. And considering his knowledge of Geographic Information Systems—a complicated theory used to better understand patterns and trends—Mr. Hochhauser found what he was looking for.

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BY DANIEL GEIGER

Joining a growing list of tenants disuaded from Midtown South because of the neighborhood’s rising rental rates and scarce availability, M5 Networks has signed a lease to relocate to 1385 Broadway, sources told The Commercial Observer.

The company will take 23,000 square feet, the 435,000-square-foot building’s entire seventh floor, where asking rents are in the $40s per square foot. M5 will be moving from 245 West 17th Street in Chelsea, where it had about 14,000 square feet.

Bill Peters, an executive at Jones Lang LaSalle who handled the lease for M5 with colleague Sean Black, said the company chose to do the deal in order to receive better economics, savings he said it intended pour into its office installation.

“They wanted to make the space special so instead of putting money towards a high rent, they wanted to create something that would benefit and attract employees,” Mr. Peters said. “They’re going to have some nice break rooms and they will put extra effort into the buildout of the kitchen areas.”

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BY CARL GAINES

GE Capital Real Estate has provided a $575 million loan to affiliates of a Blackstone real estate fund for its purchase of 66 U.S. industrial properties.

The properties are located across 10 states in the south, mid-Atlantic and Midwest and were bought from Australia’s Dexus Property Group.

Frank Cohen, a senior managing director at Blackstone, said that several factors put GE ahead in the race to fund the acquisition.

“There was significant interest in financing this transaction, but GE’s creative balance sheet approach and flexible deal structure was a perfect match for our business plan,” Mr. Cohen said.

“They’ve been a responsive, experienced lender who can deliver on transactions like this.”

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