Loft-y Chelsea buy for Israeli investor

Lois Weiss

BETWEEN THE BRICKS

Local Israeli investor Jonathan Leitersdorf is getting a prime development site in Chelsea on the northeast corner of 11th Avenue and West 23rd Street.

According to documents we've reviewed, the closing on what is actually a long-term ground lease spanning two buildings is to take place by August 2012.

We hear Leitersdorf and partner John Jacobson hope to begin construction next spring on Skybox, an event space along with high-end loft rental units. Leitersdorf could not be reached.

Located opposite a playground and Chelsea Piers and down the block from the High Line in the gallery district, a source said it will have "all of the elements to be attractive to future tenants."

The Chelsea Skybox site was previously in the hands of hotelier Richard Born.

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Pink Stone Capital Group has bought the $9.2 million note on the 12-story 174-180 Nassau St. in downtown Brooklyn from New York Community Bank, which has been foreclosing on the property.

Current plans by architect Karl Fischer call for a 125-unit luxury rental. Pink Stone's founder and CEO, Richard Ohebshalom, recently bought the note for 111 Washington St. by the World Trade Center.

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Sierra Realty and its investment partners Jeff and Larry Farkas have bought a three-building portfolio in the Bronx for $15.5 million. Independent broker Stuart Stein repped the seller, a family that had owned the buildings for 40 years.

The buildings are: 1515 Grand Concourse with 76 apartments in 73,692 square feet; 1136 Sherman Ave. with 46 apartments and three retail spaces in 52,000 square feet; and 1052 Hoe Ave. with 53 apartments and three retail spots in 53,477 square feet.

Interest-only financing of $11.625 million was obtained through Bridgehampton National Bank.

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The popular raw food and smoothie spot The Juice Press signed a lease on the Upper East Side for 1,100 square feet at 1050 Third Ave. The juice joint was represented by Jason Turner of Zelnik & Company while the building's co-op board was assisted by David Berger and Peter Liptrot of Bernstein Real Estate. The asking rent was $225 a foot.

The company already has two locations in the East Village.

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Turning from fruit to beans, the Los Angeles joint Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is jumping into Manhattan with one spot in the Fashion District and another in negotiations.

Jeffrey Srulowitz, who has rented to a Coffee Bean in LA for the last 25 years, and his partner, Douglas Soclof -- known for Dougie's Bar-B-Q -- bought the franchise rights for the East Coast and say Manhattan is their current primary focus.