Leary, Kelly, Sendogdular, and Dzbanek of CPEX secure lease at 95 Rockwell Place

The CPEX New York development and conversion investment sales team completed a ground lease at 95 Rockwell Place. Between Fulton St. and Lafayette Ave., the site has a 6,030 s/f lot with a five-story, 26,850 s/f office building. CPEX's development and conversion team, consisting of managing partner Brian Leary, managing director Sean Kelly, Esq., associate director Cengiz (Jay) Sendogdular and associate Matthew Dzbanek, represented the seller, Hertz Family LLC, in negotiating the triple-net ground lease agreement. CPEX also procured the developer and hotel operator, a partnership between SDS and Trans Inns. SDS and Trans Inns will partner with a major flag hotel. CPEX's client is a family-owned limited partnership ("LP") that has owned the building for 25 years. One member of the LP owns a financial services company that occupies half of the building. "Our client was interested in monetizing the asset and we helped them determine that a sale or ground lease was more advantageous than a repositioning through major capital improvements," said Leary. "When we hit the market we immediately received a strong response from several hotel and residential developers. Demand for development sites in Brooklyn has surpassed levels we saw in the height of the last cycle, particularly in areas close to entertainment and transportation." "Based on the small footprint of the site, it works better for a hotel than a residential project and that was obvious from the offers we received," said Kelly. "We eventually structured a deal for a long-term ground lease which worked well for both parties. Since hotels are an operating business, they don't necessarily need to own the real estate, and our client is pleased that they will continue to own a great asset in the heart of the BAM Cultural District with a new building occupied by a major flag hotel."