Robert Futterman

One of Robert K. Futterman’s favorite photographs shows his kids standing in front of what is now the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue.

Hanging in the empty window behind them is, of course, a sign sporting Papa Futterman’s own blue “RKF” logo, inspired by his “real-estate hero,” Edward S. Gordon, and his longtime client, the GAP.  read more »

L.A.-based frozen yogurt purveyor Pinkberry continues its low-calorie invasion of Tasti D-Lite country.

The allegedly habit-forming icy-treat chain, AKA "crackberry," has signed a lease for a new 600-square-foot shop on Broadway near Columbia University, according to Tuesday's announcement from brokerage Robert K. Futterman & Associates.

The new Morningside Heights digs will be the fifth New York City location for the West Coast dessert dealer, which has embarked on an aggressive East Coast expansion plan.

Not that Tasti D-Lite is shivering.

As a spokesperson for "NEW YORK'S #1 FROZEN DESSERT" told The Observer back in November (and recently reiterated for the Sun): "We don't consider it any competition at all... It's frozen yogurt, and our product is a unique frozen dessert which contains no yogurt at all."

Full release after the jump.  read more »

- Chris Shott

Italian denim dealer Diesel has leased 1,600 square feet on Lafayette Street to give its 55DSL line a boutique space all its own.

The line was previously relegated to a small section of Diesel's Union Square location.

"The retailer's 55DSL brand is targeting young men and women with a strong sense of fashion and a hip 'downtown' style," said Robert Cohen of the uber-hip retail brokerage Robert K. Futterman & Associates, which coordinated the deal, in a press release.

The new store, located between Houston and Prince streets, is slated to open this spring.

Totally "hip" press release after the jump.  read more »

- Chris Shott

Bridezilla-beloved designer Vera Wang has leased 2,500 square feet on Mercer Street to showcase her latest ready-to-wear and Lavender labels.

Retail brokerage Robert K. Futterman & Associates announced the deal late Tuesday.

The new boutique is scheduled to open this coming fall--which almost gives you enough time to secure adequate financing for that grey-pleated, organza, floor-length t-shirt with pewter sea-bead smocking that your wife has been eyeballing.  read more »

Full release after the jump.

- Chris Shott

Sorry, Best Buy. Big-box domestics behemoth Bed, Bath & Beyond now has dibs on 33,500 square feet of the remaining retail space at Tribeca's forthcoming 101 Warren Street complex.

Brokerage Robert K. Futterman & Associates described the deal Thursday as a " testament" to the historic neighborhood's rebirth as, um, a shopping mall.

"Lower Manhattan and TriBeCa in particular are quickly becoming a seven-day retail market, popular with New Yorkers and tourists alike. Bed Bath & Beyond's decision to establish a downtown flagship at 101 Warren, further reinforces the area's retail resurgence," RFK Managing Director Ariel Schuster stated in a press release.

With Whole Foods Market and Barnes & Noble already taking up another 100,000 square feet of the Owings & Merrill-designed building (aka 270 Greenwich Street), there's only enough room left for, say, a Gap or two.

"RFK will be marketing the balance of the 4,294 square feet of retail space to upscale fashion retailers and to luxury home furnishing stores," according to the release.

What, no Starbucks?  read more »

- Chris Shott

As community opposition continues to keep Wal-Mart out of the Big Apple, local retail broker extraordinaire Robert K. Futterman has come up with a brilliant solution to the big-box debacle: Kick the naysayers out of the approval process.

"If they keep going in front of [the City Planning Commission] and community boards, they're gonna have a problem," Futterman said in an interview with The Real Deal, available via podcast. "The ideal situation would be a location, whether it be New York or any of the other boroughs, where they can go in and operate without having to go get, you know, any approvals outside of the zoning."  read more »

The two-floor, 17,000-square-foot retail space at 85 Fifth Avenue--known to savvy ladies everywhere as the Flatiron District's Anthropologie--has been sold to RFR Holding LLC for $24.8 million. (The group bought the Seagram Building in late 2000 for slightly more: $375m.)

The nice clothing retailer, thankfully, will stay put.

The store is a retail co-op. And according to Robert Futterman, whose company represented both RFR and seller Michael Salzhauer, retail co-ops are the exciting new trend in the exciting world of New York retail real estate.  read more »

- Max Abelson

A downtown man—that’s what Billy Joel is.  read more »

A downtown man—that’s what Billy Joel is.  read more »

Plans to replace the old Andrews Coffee Shop (left) on Fifth Avenue at 18th Street with a new structure to house the Apple Store (right) appear to be on hold.

Well, they were already questionable: back in July we reported on the local community board's problems with the design, and spokesperson Monika Wik had this to say:

In researching the store location you point our below [sic], 136 Fifth Ave.. [sic] I see no such plans for a store, as such I consider the location a speculation at this time and therefore cannot comment on speculation and rumor. Thank you, Monica

Now, a sign in the window of the store offers it for lease through Robert K. Futterman. Here's the listing.

Rent is not disclosed--that's only available upon request. But it's a 12-year term, immediate occupancy, and in a "Comments" section, the listing reads: "Sublease from Apple."

Also, that rendering was obtained by The Real Estate through the community board, which voted against the proposed rebuild last summer.  read more »

Anyone know what gives?

- Tom McGeveran