BY AL BARBARINO

Cushman & Wakefield is marketing a sub-level retail space at 1633 Broadway, where a 733-glass cube entryway designed by Moed de Armas & Shannon will serve as a portal to two lower levels made up of 39,588 square feet of stacked concourse space.

The opportunity lies within a 2.5 million-square-foot Class A office tower spanning the entire block-front of Broadway between 50th and 51st Streets, owned by the Paramount Group.

The vacant sub-level space, formerly occupied by the outer-space-themed Mars 2112, has been gutted, and a sparkling glass entry cube, reminiscent of the above-ground glass façade leading to Apple’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue, will provide visibility and signage opportunities for a range of potential uses, said Alan Schmerzler, an executive director at Cushman & Wakefield who reviewed the floor plans with The Commercial Observer. Mr. Schmerzler is marketing the space along with Executive Vice President Brad Mendelson, Senior Director Steve Soutendijk and Senior Associate Chris Schwart.

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BY BILLY GRAY

Univision renewed a long-term lease and expanded by 5,500 square feet at 485 Madison Avenue, giving the broadcaster a 21,234-square-foot presence there and pushing the building to 100-percent occupancy.

America’s largest Spanish-language radio company now leases the entire third floor and part of the second floor of the Jack Resnick & Sons-owned building on Madison Avenue at 52nd Street. Dennis P. Brady and Fran Delgorio represented Jack Resnick & Sons in-house. Michael Gottlieb and Martin Cottingham of Avison Young represented the tenant. img1Mr. Brady and Ms. Delgorio have led a leasing campaign at the 25-story, 300,00-square foot building, which previously served as CBS headquarters and the transmission point of Orson Wells’ famous “War of the Worlds” broadcast.

Independent public relations firm Robert Marston and Associates Inc., financial services consultant S.D. Daniels &Co. and law firm Klein Zelman Rothermel LLP are among the other tenants who signed there in recent months, for asking rents of $55-per-square-foot.

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BY KARSTEN STRAUSS

Eastern Consolidated has hired Michele Nicoletta as an associate director and part of the firm’s Loan Sales and Turnaround Services Group. Previously a managing director and head of credit trading at Standard Chartered Bank, she’ll specialize in the sale and acquisition of investment property.

Prior positions had included head of Latin America credit trading at Barclay Capital – subsequently acquired by Lehman Bros. – head of credit flow trading at Deutsche Bank and a career start as a credit trader at JP Morgan in 1998. Ms. Nicoletta’s interest in Consolidated and real estate grew from a hiatus she took from Standard Chartered Bank at the end of 2011 to reevaluate her options and spend time with her eight-year-old daughter. “The regulatory environment is just not conducive to any sort of risk taking, at this point,” Ms. Nicoletta said.

While contemplating law school or a job at a hedge fund, Ms. Nicoletta took a real estate class for fun, found an ad for investment sales associates for Eastern Consolidated and became intrigued by investment sales, feeling that the field played into her skill set. “I’ve always followed global markets and real estate is a big part of that,” she said. She started her new job with Eastern – which offers a commission-based compensation package – on November 7.

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BY AL BARBARINO

Convenience store chain 7-eleven has signed a long-term lease for roughly 2,500 square feet of retail space at 111 Fulton Street in the Financial District, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The landlord was represented by Ross Kaplan of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, while Ariel Schuster and Greg Covey at RKF represented the tenant.

“There’s a flurry of activity going on Downtown,” Mr. Kaplan said, who has represented the landlord for the last year. “Tourism and a dense commercial and residential population is a big draw for retailers in this part of town, especially quick-service shops.”

7-11-logoAsking rents were $150 per square foot, Mr. Kaplan said, adding that the lease was long-term but declining to specify the precise duration.

The transit hub at Fulton and Broadway is steps away, Pace University, New York Downtown Hospital and the Downtown Theatre are nearby, and the 9/11 Ground Zero tour begins just steps away from the building.

“There’s a massive amount of foot traffic here,” Mr. Kaplan said.

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