BY BILLY GRAY

Douglas Elliman Retail Group Chairman Faith Hope Consolo and Executive Vice President Joseph Aquino are marketing the adjacent retail spaces at 102 and 104 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District.

The 4,000-square-foot 102 Fifth Avenue will soon be vacated by Mesa Grill, celebrity chef Bobby Flay's 22-year-old Southwestern restaurant, whose possible closure Zagat first reported nine months ago. The 150-seat restaurant was due to shutter today, but the landlord gave it a 90- to 120-day extension.

The women's clothing and accessories chain Arden B. already closed at the 2,200-square-foot 104 Fifth Avenue. Combined, the stores have 60 feet of frontage.

"Right now we've got a half-dozen offers and we haven't said yes to anybody," Mr. Aquino said. "A couple of restaurants want to take Mesa Grill, another two prospective tenants want to take all of both spaces for retail and another two are interested in the former Arden B."

Mr. Aquino added that the interested restaurateurs are nationally familiar names that "have come out of the woodwork from Florida" and other points outside New York.

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BY GUS DELAPORTE

GFK Market Research is closing in on a 75,000-square-foot lease at 1 World Financial Center, Crain’s New York reported yesterday.

It is believed GFK will take one of the building’s lower floors on a 10-year lease. Asking rent is in the $40s per square foot, Crain’s reported. There is currently vacant space on the fourth and fifth floors, according to the report, both measuring approximately 75,000 square feet.

GFK’s potential move to the World Financial Center is just one of many news deals for the complex. As previously reported by The Commercial Observer, office space provider Regus completed a transaction for the entire 24th floor at 3 World Financial Center last week.

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BY AL BARBARINO

As the city braces for its next snowstorm, Syracuse University is barreling from snow-coated Syracuse, New York towards Midtown South, where it will stomp a 20,000-square-foot footprint at 136 Madison Avenue.

The university plans to use the second floor of the 17-story, 150,000-square foot art deco building as a hub for academic programs and internship opportunities that will compliment alumni activities already housed at its Lubin House on East 61st Street, said a source familiar with the deal.

The Lubin House serves as the university’s regional admissions office, a gathering place for visiting faculty and alumni, and home to discussion panels, an art gallery and a division of its drama school.

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BY MICHAEL EWING

The Real Estate Lenders Association is workshopping investment analysis from a borrower’s perspective. Several concepts will be discussed, including equity structures, discounted cash flows, cash flow waterfalls, and differentiating underwriting for a loan and a property for equity ownership. The event is complimentary for members and $35 for nonmembers. Keep in mind that the same material was previously presented at a Dec. 6 session.
RELA NYC Educational Seminar, “Below the Line: An Equity Perspective on Underwriting,” Wells Fargo Learning & Events Center, Room 104, 150 East 42nd Street; 4pm to 6pm, visit www.rela.org for more information.

The Architectural Engineering Institute of ASCE and the Ornamental Metal Institute of New York are coming together to present a conference on building façades. The conference aims to explore façades as more than a sum of their parts and how to design innovative ideas to save energy. Vivan Loftness, FAIA, LEED AP and professor at Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture, will be the keynote speaker.
The Ornamental Metal Institute, McGraw-Hill Auditorium, 1221 Avenue of the Americas; 8am to 5pm, visit www.ominy.org for more information.

Join the Queen of Retail, Faith Hope Consolo, in a discussion at the New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate about retail real estate around the world. Ms. Consolo will speak on several trends, including how increasing globalization of the retail sector is changing leasing globally, and the growing number of foreign chains expanding to the United States.
Retail Real Estate Around the World, Midtown Center, 11 West 42nd Street; 4:30pm to 6pm.