Is the late Brandon Miller’s Real Estate Equities Corporation stepping back from its East Village office project?
The project at 1 Saint Mark’s Place, which was still under development when Brandon Miller died in July 2024, has entered a new phase. Manhattan-based real estate investment and development firm GDSNY has been tapped to oversee leasing and development management at the property, a year after pre-leasing at the nine-story office building first launched.
Lender Parkview Financial’s CEO Paul Rahimian framed the transition as a positive, pointing to beauty retailer Sephora, which is preparing to open on the ground floor.
But it’s hard not to wonder what’s unfolding behind the curved glass facade of the still-vacant office portion of the 60,000-square-foot building.
Michael Kirchmann’s firm announced its involvement on its website back in January, describing the property as a newly delivered boutique office building ready for tenants. The firm is not just leasing the space, it’s designing a new lobby and taking over as asset manager. That’s a notable shift from early 2025, when a JLL team was marketing the building.
The project has had a long and turbulent road, even before Miller’s death. REEC acquired the leasehold for $29 million in 2018 and bet on a speculative office development just before the pandemic upended the market. Financial troubles followed. Madison Capital Realty attempted to foreclose in 2021 before Parkview stepped in with a $70 million rescue refinance the next year.
Even after that, the project showed signs of strain, with REEC falling behind on loan payments at one point. Rahimian declined to comment on REEC’s current involvement in the project. REEC principal Mark Seigel did not respond to a request for comment.
Construction, at least, is no longer the issue. The Morris Adjmi–designed building — a dark brick structure with a rounded glass corner — is complete, according to Parkview. The question now is who’s steering the ship.
“Unlike a traditional developer or lender, we design, build, manage, and lease, which makes us able to bring solutions to complex situations where our range of skills can have an immediate impact,” GDSNY head of investments Dan Temel said in a statement posted on the firm’s website.
A complex situation, indeed.
What we’re thinking about: A Transportation Security Administration worker at Harry Reid International Airport in Nevada received an eviction notice from his landlord, Fox5 Vegas reported. As thousands of TSA workers miss paychecks, is the partial government shutdown beginning to trickle down to New York City multifamily owners, with tenants falling behind on rent? Send thoughts to elizabeth.cryan@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: Digital Realty, U.K.-based Oxford Quantum Circuits and NVIDIA have launched New York’s first Quantum-AI data center at 111 8th Avenue, also known as the Google building. The Chelsea building has long been a hub for data centers, which occupy 2.9 million square feet across 15 floors, according to datacenters.com.
Elsewhere…
— Suspected serial killer and prolific New York City architect Rex Heuermann is expected to plead guilty next month, relatives of the victims told Newsday. The Massapequa Park architect, accused of killing seven women, is expected to change his plea during a scheduled appearance on April 8. Heuermann had a myriad of customers ranging from office to retail to residential, and was hired for a job at one of Donald Trump’s most prized properties, 40 Wall Street, according to a 2018 filing with the New York City Department of Buildings.
— A sei whale, about 30 to 40 feet long, washed up on 95th Street beach in Rockaway on Wednesday night, Gothamist reported. Local residents reported the dead mammal Thursday morning to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, a nonprofit that performs the necropsies and coordinates the removal of the carcass. The New York Bight, which stretches from Montauk to Cape May, has the largest volume of boat traffic on the Atlantic Ocean and had 10 whale fatalities last year.