Menswear Designer Rick Owens Doubling Soho Offices

Famed menswear designer Rick Owens inked a deal to double its Soho headquarters, Commercial Observer has learned.

The fashion designer signed a more than five-year lease for the entire 7,500-square-foot third floor of 2 Crosby Street between Howard and Grand Streets, according to owners K Property Group (KPG) and Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation. Asking rents in the property range from $95 to $125 per square feet.

“Everything we’ve planned for the building is in line with the look and feel of the neighborhood,” Gregory Kraut, a managing partner at KPG, said in a statement. “We have something special planned for the office interiors, which will be transformed into high-end, bespoke prebuilt suites that are a cut above even the poshest standards of the location.”


CURBED NY: Sunshine Cinema-replacing office building moves forward on Lower East Side

The building that once housed Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema on the Lower East Side will soon be no longer.

Crain’s reports that East End Capital and K Property Group, the development firms that bought the old theater in 2017, have secured a construction loan for the property—meaning that demolition of that structure will soon be underway. Demolition plans were filed with the city’s Department of Buildings a year ago, but the structure on East Houston Street is still standing.


PRWeb: K Property Group (KPG) Appoints Robert Sessa Head of Real Estate for Employees Retirement System of Texas to Advisory Board

K Property Group (KPG) Appoints Robert Sessa Head of Real Estate for Employees Retirement System of Texas to Advisory Board. K Property Group (KPG), a burgeoning leader in value-add office and retail acquisition’s and development in NYC, today announced Robert Sessa to the Advisory Board to support the company’s rapid growth by providing strategic guidance and input to KPG. The board consists of leaders with diverse backgrounds in both the private and public sector. Each member brings deep experience in real estate and other fields, adding significant depth and breadth to the KPG team.


COMMERCIAL OBSERVER: As Sun Sets on Sunshine Cinema, Gregory Kraut Is Ready for Its Next Iteration

Gregory Kraut, a managing partner at K Property Group, is paring down—personally and professionally. The 42-year-old has cut out animal products including eggs and dairy; he has stopped drinking and watching TV and he’s added meditation to his daily diet. At work, he and partner Rod Kritsberg are a two-man outfit that has reduced its overhead by working out of a free office, having a CFO on retainer and employing an analyst that is an independent contractor.


TheRealDeal: K Property, Intercontinental scoop up pair of Soho buildings for $46M

Greg Kraut and Rod Kritsberg’s K Property Group and Boston-based Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation bought two adjoining commercial buildings in Soho for $46 million. The firms plan on renovating and combining the properties, according to sources. The deal for 30-32 Howard Street, which closed Tuesday, is K Property Group’s second major acquisition following its $31.5 million buy of the Sunshine Cinema with East End Capital last year.


REAL ESTATE FINANCE & INVESTMENT: JUMPING IN TO BIG APPLE RETAIL - PODCAST

Rod Kritsberg, managing partner of New York-based K Property Group, believes that the time is right to buy retail in the city. The firm focuses on high-demand neighborhoods in Manhattan, seeking opportunities to acquire prime, high street retail – but only if the company can make a deal at a steep discount from previous market highs.


Real Estate Finance & Investment: REFI Radio Big Apple niche investment strategies - PODCAST

Investing in New York must be done with extreme care if you are not already a local expert, according to Gregory Kraut, managing partner at K Property Group. REFI Radio discussed with Greg the firm’s strategy of targeting under-performing non-stabilized properties and generating value through capital improvements and re-tenanting Class B office product and smaller spaces. The firm focuses on specific Manhattan submarkets where leasing has not caught up to capital markets.


New York owner carves out boutique office niche

K Property Group, a New York-based investment company that specializes in buildings of 300,000 square feet or less, is carving out a niche among smaller office tenants seeking high-quality space with no extra hassle. “We’re working with tenants who have graduated from WeWork or Regus and want the same services you’d get from a shared space provider. They also want an identity and their own, meaning an encapsulated space within their building,” said Greg Kraut, managing partner.

Most sub-10,000 square foot tenants don’t want to sign long-term leases or come out of pocket for spacecosts, be it furniture, phones, or extra costs of building. “These tenants also tend to procrastinate their move schedule and are in a rush to get into a space,” Kraut said. “We allow tenants to be able to move into space in a fraction of the time, usually in less than 45 days, and with less hassle.”

With the aim of keeping things simple, K Property works with tenants who are looking for space for at least a year and want to move quickly. “Smaller spaces are in great demand – we see a vacancy rate of less than 5% for small, high-end pre-built space,” Kraut added, adding that there are almost no pre-built spaces that offer furniture and/or IT and phones. “These tenants don’t want to be distracted by a three- or four-month lease negotiation or build out,” he said.

Kraut, who joined K Property earlier this year after a long career representing tenants and landlords on leasing transactions, said this perspective has helped the company to evolve this strategy. “Coming from the leasing world has helped me to understand what tenants really want – and what landlords need to satisfy that demand,” he said. “ I have seen most small tenants that are happy and have initially asked for a short term lease stay for several years as long as you have a product that keeps them sticky”.  “We have found that by offering the flexibility, they actually stay much longer, pay more  and  it’s the closest occupancy rate that we have found next to multi-family. Nobody wants to move unless they have to”

One easy way to save time is on lease negotiations, Kraut said. “A lot of the time is spent negotiating 100-page leases, which is a huge annoyance and a waste of time and money. We use short form leases and/or license agreements,” he said.

The company also handles outside service providers, such as phone companies and internet service providers. “Tenants will pay more for the convenience,” Kraut said. This is particularly true for out-of-town tenants that want to hang their shingle in New York. “We see demand from companies that are based in London and want to open a small office in New York, or companies that are in Silicon Alley that might need 10 seats here as well as growing, New York-based firm that values convenience and efficiency,” he said.

While many landlords focus on providing an amenity-rich environment, Kraut believes that some amenities are critical – and others are not so important. “Most tenants want an environment with artwork, concierge services, somewhere to get a coffee, snacks or newspaper, and a car service on call. It’s also important to have security move very quickly,” Kraut said. “You don’t need to layer on a tremendous number of amenities. The key components are making the space look nice, using different colors of paint, having tasteful artwork and furniture, and a staff that’s friendly and says ‘Good morning.’”

While leasing up multiple tenants on smaller leases can be more time consuming than signing a few tenants to larger spaces, Kraut noted that there are other factors. “Some of the biggest investment funds would say that they need bigger tenants for credit purposes and longevity but I’d make the case that smaller spaces, which have always been significantly more occupied and are easier to re-lease than larger spaces,” he said.

There’s also the question of lowering risk. “Small tenants are an obvious driver of revenue from a demand and leasing velocity perspective, but what’s just as valuable is the risk mitigant of smaller, staggered tenant rolls throughout a building that is then not that mercy of a large vacancy event with the loss of one major tenant,” said Rod Kritsberg, managing partner.


PR Newswire: K Property Group (KPG) Creates Advisory Board of Four Leading Real Estate and Business Experts

K Property Group (KPG), a burgeoning leader in value-add office and retail acquisition’s and development in NYC, today announced the creation of its Strategic Advisory Board to support the company’s rapid growth. The board consists of leaders with diverse backgrounds in both the private and public sector. This board will be responsible for providing strategic guidance and input to KPG. Each member brings deep experience in real estate and other fields, adding significant depth and breadth to the KPG team. KPG’s executive team elected four new advisory board members at its recent meeting. The board will meet quarterly at KPG’s NYC office. Together the board members will contribute their Real Estate and Business expertise and insights to the firm’s investment process.


NEW YORK POST: LOWER EAST SIDE'S LANDMARK SUNSHINE CINEMA TO CLOSE

The Lower East Side’s hip movie house, the Landmark Sunshine Cinema, will close when its lease expires in January 2018, The Post has learned.

The 30,000-square-foot building at 139 E. Houston St. has been sold for $31.5 million to developers East End Capital and K Property Group, which will convert it to a mixed-use development with retail and upstairs office space. The site includes 20,000 square feet of air rights.

Landmark had a right of first refusal to buy the building and wanted to serve dinner with its flicks, but that idea was flushed after a full liquor license was rejected in 2012 by the community board. The property has been marketed since 2015.