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Commercial Observer
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Edited by Jotham Sederstrom | Jsederstrom@observer.com

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Thursday January 24, 2013
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Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Brian Waterman

BY BILLY GRAY

Brian Waterman’s 27 years at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank sprang from a 90-second interview with NGKF Chief Executive Officer Barry Gosin in 1986.

Mr. Waterman, now a vice chairman at NGKF, was fresh out of college and considering a career in law. His mentor, Saul Katz, Sterling Equities’ co-founder and president, shot from the hip and said there were already enough lawyers in the world, and that Mr. Waterman should look into real estate, the field that had minted Mr. Katz’s fortune.

Mr. Katz put Messrs. Waterman and Gosin in touch.

Not quite two minutes into the job interview, Mr. Gosin told Mr. Waterman he was hired, and to immediately start canvassing. “It was my first and only job interview,” Mr. Waterman said.

He shared this tale on the 15th floor of 229 West 43rd Street, formerly the New York Times Building, for which he is the leasing agent. It was the morning after the Real Estate Board of New York’s 117th annual banquet—the preferred timing choice of precisely no one involved with the interview. But Mr. Waterman betrayed no signs of sluggishness, perhaps thanks to the raw, currently vacant space that surrounded him, with its 14-foot ceilings.

“You can’t help but be awed by this environment,” Mr. Waterman said of the simultaneously industrial and airy floor with unimpeded westward views (protected by Theater District air rights). “People love the blemishes—the bricks and pipes. Building owners often try to cover up that stuff, but you can’t make a building what it’s not.”

Mr. Waterman’s longevity at NGKF qualifies him as an expert on what New York buildings should and could be. But he repeatedly stresses that commercial real estate is an industry with a permanent learning curve, and that NGKF offers the finest master class.

“I grew up at Newmark,” Mr. Waterman said. “I cut my teeth as an agent working with Mr. Gosin and [NGKF Chairman] Jeff [Gural] on their building portfolios. That was a great education. I always tell my kids, ‘God gave you two ears and one mouth. Listen closely and take in as much as you can.”

To read the full story, click here

Film and Television Studio Inks Deal in Gowanus

BY BILLY GRAY

Eastern Effects, a film and television equipment, studio and office space provider, signed a lease for a 72,000-square-foot warehouse location at 99 Ninth Street in Gowanus, a broker revealed to The Commercial Observer yesterday afternoon.

The company currently has a 68,000-square-foot studio space at nearby 270 Nevins Street in addition to an office space and equipment pickup location. The asking rent was $13 per square foot. Brian Kanarack, a principal at BKR Partners, represented the tenant. The landlord, C&F Second Avenue LLC, was represented in-house.

The lease was first reported by The Real Deal.

Mr. Kanarack described the lease as an expansion for the company. The new building is up the street from The Gowanus Industrial Arts Complex, a compound that offers workshops, studios and gallery space to emerging designers and artists. The slowly but surely gentrifying neighborhood is also home to the Old American Can Factory, which describes itself on its website as "a curated community of more than 300 people work in the creative industries."

"It's a very exciting place to be," Mr. Kanarack said of the post-industrial district on the banks of the Gowanus Canal, a Superfund site in which traces of pollution have done little to deter developers and major retail tenants from building in the area.

Buzzing restaurants like Littleneck and The Pines have brought savvy diners from across the city to Gowanus. And a long-delayed Whole Foods is slated to open a 52,000-square-foot location this fall on the corner of Third Avenue and Third Street.

To read the full story, click here

Avison Young to Lease 3 Hudson Boulevard

BY KARSTEN STRAUSS

Moinian Group has chosen Avison Young’s New York Team as leasing agent for its soon-to-be-built tower, 3 Hudson Blvd. Construction on the 1,000 foot building is slated to begin in 2014 and the building will receive tenants in 2016.

The Avison Young team leading the assignment includes Arthur Mirante, principal and tri-state president; Michael Gottlieb, principal; and Anthony LoPresti, a senior vice-president in the New York City office. AY principal, Elliot Baum, is managing the marketing and creative campaign for the building.

The 65-story tower, designed by architecture firm FXFOWLE, will be situated at the intersection of West 34th Street and 11th Avenue, directly across from the Javits Convention Center, 3 Hudson Boulevard will provide access via an adjacent pavilion to the future 7 Line Extension Subway Station, scheduled to open in 2014.

Additionally, the building will be within walking distance of major transportation hubs at Penn Station and the new Moynihan Station, as well as the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

To read the full story, click here

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