BY BILLY GRAY

Williamsburg-based co-working space The Yard is expanding to the Lower East Side, and is looking to partner up with a cafe.

The office cooperative will open at 85 Delancey Street next month, with room to accommodate about 250 people. Organizers are looking to fill a 900-square-foot ground floor restaurant space with room for 26 people with a vendor that they hope will come from the neighborhood.

In 2011, The Yard opened a 14,000-square-foot office at 33 Nassau Avenue in Williamsburg. Young tech firms including Hype Machine, Uber and Wanderfly quickly set up shop in the complex, where private offices start at $395 per month, "coworking salons" rent for $195 per month and virtual offices go for as little as $95 a month.

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BY GUS DELAPORTE

A newly created company, Brookfield Property Partners, has completed its spinoff from Brookfield Asset Management, it was announced yesterday. The new company owns substantially all of Brookfield’s commercial real estate assets across its global portfolio.

“Brookfield Property Partners public listing opens an exciting new chapter in the growth of a leading global commercial property company, with the scale and expertise needed to deliver superior long term performance,” said Ric Clark, chief executive officer at Brookfield Property Partners, in a prepared statement.

Brookfield’s commercial real estate portfolio across office, retail, multi-family and industrial platforms has been transferred to Brookfield Property Partners as part of the spinoff. The portfolio includes over 300 office and retail properties totaling over 250 million square feet.

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BY AL BARBARINO

The board of the Italian American Museum is searching for a developer to build it a new home at Mulberry and Grand Streets in Little Italy, The New York Times reported yesterday.

The decision to sell the property comes after years of financial struggle, with deficits every year since 2008, when current ownership purchased the building. The museum’s operators believe the sale could yield up to $12 million.

“Unfortunately, I don’t see another way to do it,” the president and director of the museum, Dr. Joseph Scelsa, told the Times.

The museum features 3,000 artifacts – mostly donated from the attics, basements and closets of local Italian-Americans – and hosts lectures and poetry readings. But its 1,000 square feet are no longer sufficient for the 80,000 visitors it attracts per year, Dr. Scelsa said.

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BY MICHAEL EWING

The New York Building Congress is hosting a breakfast forum on the construction industry. Seth Pinsky, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, will be present. The event is $85 for NYBC members and $150 for nonmembers.
Construction Industry Breakfast Forum, Hilton New York, 1335 Avenue of the Americas; 8am, contact Alanna Draudt at (212) 481-9099 or adraudt@buildingcongress.com for more information.