BY KARSTEN STRAUSS

Times of change and uncertainty are always worrisome for investors—fear takes hold, spending is called into question and valuations become unpredictable.

Mix an election season with the impending threat of a potentially devastating fiscal cliff, then throw in a destructive, rogue tropical storm named Sandy, and you’ve created an environment that is not conducive to a stellar business quarter for the commercial market.

However, thanks to tax law-motivated sales and retail—as well as a handful of big end-of-year leasing deals—the fourth quarter ended on a relatively positive note, despite a slowdown in leasing activity.

“When you’re in the midst of survival, you’re not necessarily thinking about closing the next real estate deal,” said Joseph Harbert, president for the Eastern region at Colliers International. “So the fact that we went through this quarter and survived a national election, the European debt crisis, the impending fiscal cliff and a hurricane—I think we did pretty damn well.”

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BY BILLY GRAY

Manhattan-based retail real estate specialist Winick Realty Group is going west. Winick opened its first New Jersey office in early November of last year, with senior vice presidents and founding co-partners Daniel Spector, a 25-year real estate veteran, and Tyler Bennett, with a decade of industry experience, at the helm.

With nine tenants and several exclusive arrangements with prominent landlords already secured, Messrs. Spector and Bennett are optimistic about Winick Realty Group NJ’s prospects in 2013. The Commercial Observer spoke with the partners in Winick’s Midtown office about their incipient developments, the aftereffects of Sandy and Garden State idiosyncrasies.

You both focused on New Jersey real estate before the Winick office opened. What drew you to the market?
Tyler Bennett: I’m a lifelong New Jersey resident, so knowing the market and having done most of my transactions there, it made sense.

Daniel Spector: I’m originally a New Yorker. I was working in a firm that represented retailers in Long Island, including Blockbuster Video. I was helping them expand in New York City and New Jersey. I started doing a lot of work in New Jersey, and after a couple years of commuting over two bridges, I decided that maybe I should move there, as hard as it was for a New Yorker.

TB: [Laughs] Are you moving back?

DS: It’s not too bad, actually.

TB: It’s twofold. First of all, alternative brokerage firms didn’t impress me or take advantage of what I wanted to do in north and central Jersey. Dan came to me, mentioned the opportunity, and I thought the synergies between a New York-based firm and north Jersey would be complementary—and they have been.

Secondly, I wanted to do something different, to create a platform that wasn’t being offered in the largest metro area of the United States.

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BY KARSTEN STRAUSS

American Realty Capital, of New York, purchased 256 West 38th Street for $48.6 million on Dec. 26. The seller – a joint venture of East End Capital and GreenOak Real Estate – had purchased the property in 2011 for about $30 million.

The 118,200-square-foot building has undergone approximately $4 million in renovations since being taken over by the partnership, including lobby, elevators, bathrooms, HVAC, façade and windows, utilizing a more modern feel, avenue building-type feel. “(We were) trying to bring a more classé aesthetic to a mid block,” said David Peretz, managing principal at East End Capital.

The partnership’s strategy was to upgrade a midblock, Class B office building into an A-level offering that could attract higher quality tenants, explained Mr. Peretz.

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BY AL BARBARINO

Massey Knakal has arranged the sale of an apartment building at 220 West 71st Street in Manhattan’s Upper West Side for $21.25 million, The Commercial Observer has learned.

Located between Broadway and West End Avenue, the 38,463-square-foot, pre-war, 53-foot wide elevator apartment building has nine stories, a penthouse, and great upside potential for the new owner.

It’s a gem in a neighborhood mostly void of available elevator product, said Paul Smadbeck, a Massey Knakal senior vice president of sales, who represented both parties in the transaction.

“It’s a spectacular product in a superior location, with large apartments and tremendous upside,” he said. “The apartments are large and the rents are low.”

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