Blood Center purchases in downtown Manhattan.

Blood Center purchases in Downtown Manhattan

In the first major deal of 1992, the New York Blood Center (NYBC) has culminated an arduous three-year search for a new facility by purchasing a 165,000-square-foot building at 22 Ericsson Place in downtown Manhattan from Polarome Manufacturing Co., Inc. for $7.5 million.

NYBC, which is responsible for the blood supply of the New York downstate area, will house its entire research and processing facility in the former warehouse between Hudson and Varick Streets in Manhattan's historic Tribeca district. The non-profit agency will maintain its headquarters at 310 East 67th Street, and plans to expand and consolidate its leased facilities throughout the city to its new location in early 1993 after completing an extensive exterior and interior renovation estimated at $8 million.

The sale was negotiated by Michael Myers, senior vice president, and Diane K. Wilson, director, of Wilrock National, Inc., NYBC's exclusive representative.

Paul Gangsei of the law firm of Kalkines, Arky, Zall & Bernstein represented NYBC; John Armstrong of the law firm of Carter, Ledyard & Millburn represented Polarome Manufacturing Co., Inc., a fragrance manufacturer that relocated to New Jersey last year; and real estate consultant Eugene Bosches assisted NYBC in developing requirements and specifications, evaluating alternative sites, and in the overall planning and construction process.

Financing was arranged through the New York State Dormitory Authority.

Myers and Wilson began working with NYBC three years ago on what was originally envisioned as a million-square-foot biomedical research center that would have brought 3,000 jobs to the Bronx. The brokerage team spent two years on the original deal, creating a consortium that included NYBC, Einstein Medical College, Montifiore Hospital, Cornell University, and the Public Health Research Institute. When the consortium was unable to work out a deal with the State of New York to acquire the Bronx site, the brokers began looking at alternative locations for NYBC in Brooklyn and Long Island. They advised NYBC to purchase rather than lease because its designation as a 501(C)3 non-profit corporation would exempt the agency from federal and real estate taxes that are included in rent.

When the decline in real estate values indicated that a facility in Manhattan was economically feasible, Myers and Wilson launched an extensive study of possible sites below 96th Streets on both the east and west side.

In September, 1991, the brokerage team discovered that the Ericsson Street site met all of NYBC's extensive requirements, including corporate identity and visibility; infrastructure to support state-of-the-art facilities; accessibility to the agency's uptown headquarters; efficient floorplate; convenient truck access; proximity to bridges and tunnels for coverage of the downstate area (the site is virtually adjacent to the Holland Tunnel); accessibility to mass transportation, and employee and visitor conveniences; as well as excellent security since the facility is next to a police station. Other corporations in the area include American Express/Shearson, AT&T and New York Telephone.

According to Wilson, NYBC joins a growing number of nonprofit agencies that are taking advantage of declining real estate values to purchase larger, new facilities. She says that although the banking industry's reluctance to provide financing has made it difficult for investors to acquire vacant properties, not-for-profits occupy the space they own and have a large amount of funding available, especially for the vast number of bargains that abound in a weak market.