BY GUS DELAPORTE

A development group led by Sam Boymelgreen has signed a 49-year triple net lease for a 90,000-square-foot loft at 255 Butler Street in Gowanus.

“With developers moving forward with several residential projects along the Gowanus Canal, this was a prime opportunity to maximize the value of the asset for the owners,” said Bob Klein of Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates, who arranged the lease alongside James Dario, in a prepared statement.

Located between Nevins and Bond Streets, the property is nearby Lightstone Group’s planned development of a 700-unit rental apartment building and Whole Foods’ planned 50,000-square-foot location, which is expected to open later this year.

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BY AL BARBARINO

Ariel Property Advisors has arranged the $3 million sale of a four-story, 20-unit multifamily property at 35-48 Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens – a neighborhood where multifamily buildings rarely hit the market, The Commercial Observer has learned.

Only 64 multifamily buildings were sold in Queens last year, compared with 197, 259 and 269 in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan, respectively, data from Ariel Property Advisors shows, illustrating the tendency among owners in the borough to hang onto property.

“The pricing achieved reflects today’s strong demand for multifamily assets, particularly in Astoria, where few such buildings trade in any given year,” said Michael Tortorici, vice president at Ariel Property Advisors. “Queens typically has very low turnover when it comes to multifamily buildings.”

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BY BILLY GRAY

Winick Realty Group is exclusively marketing more than 6,500 square feet of retail space at 37 St. Mark’s Place, a prime corner property in the East Village. Melinda Miller and Lee Block are the leasing agents for the address, which they are listing as three separate ground level storefronts and a 3,000-square-foot lower-level with 11-foot ceilings.

“This is a premier corner,” Mr. Block said of the address on the pedestrian-clogged St. Mark’s Place at Second Avenue, the East Village’s retail and dining spine. “It’s unlike any other. You just don’t get this exposure and traffic very often.” The property includes 100 feet of wraparound frontage. As of a couple weeks ago, all four retail spaces in the building are vacant. The site once housed Eastside Bakery.net and a Cohen’s Optical store.

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BY MICHAEL EWING

Join the Real Estate Lenders Association for a wine tasting at the Yale Club. The charge is $75 for RELA members and $110 for non-members.
RELA NYC Wine Tasting, the Yale Club, 50 Vanderbilt Avenue, 6-8pm. Visit www.rela.org for more information.

The Real Estate Board of New York is hosting its 10th annual Commercial Management Leadership Breakfast. Edward Riguardi will receive the commercial executive of the year award for his work in commercial property management. Several others are scheduled to be honored as well.
10th Annual Commercial Management Leadership Breakfast, Hilton New York, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, 7:30-10am. Contact Cindy Ramotar at (212) 616-5232 or email her at cramotar@rebny.com for more information.

Information Management Network will host its third annual spring forum on data centers. New topics include scale vs. scalability vs. rightsizing, connectivity, and tapping into new revenue streams. The slew of speakers includes Mike Ballard, CEO of Cobalt Data Centers, and Bo Bond, a managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle.
Third Annual Spring Forum on Financing, Investing, and Real Estate Development for Data Centers, Conrad New York, 102 North End Avenue. Visit www.imn.org for more information.