TD Bank Coming to 314 Grand St.; Building Listed For $32 Million (Updated)

TD Bank, in the midst of a major U.S. expansion, plans to open a new branch at 314 Grand St., on the ground floor of the building that has served for many decades as the headquarters for Zarin Fabrics.

The historic Lower East Side company, in business since 1936, is planning to stay in the building for years to come, and even has plans for a revamped ground-floor showroom accessible to Orchard Street.

314 Grand Street is owned by Amster Family Investments, which is preparing to put the building on the market.  Aaron Amster said it would be listed with Michael DeCheser of Massey Knakal.  This morning, DeCheser said a sale price had not yet been set.  “There have been unsolicited offers,” he acknowledged, adding that the building is “a gorgeous property, a loft building that’s one of the nicest spaces of its kind in Lower Manhattan.”

David Zarin, who runs the fabric company, said it became clear several years ago that the store did not need a sprawling ground floor showroom.   After vacating the space at the end of July, Zarin’s plans to utilize a small storage area on Orchard Street, combining it with a storefront now occupied by Howard Sportswear.  The idea is to create a new, more intimate showroom that will be more accessible for customers.

(We stopped by Howard Sportswear yesterday, but owner Howard Markowitz was not available to discuss the upcoming changes, and what they will mean for the longtime LES retailer.)

Zarin said the family business is still very much invested in the Lower East Side (he serves on the board of directors of the LES BID).  They’re retaining the main fabric warehouse on the second floor as well as the lower level of the building.  At the same time, Zarin’s is planning an expansion into the D&D Building on 59th Street, an important destination for interior designers.  The new location is where the store’s custom services, such as upholstering, will be based.

Aaron Amster said the decision was made to list the Grand Street building because the New York real estate market is hot, and his family wants to see what the market will bear.  TD Bank will be joining a Bank of America outlet on the ground floor, The Cast (a small clothing store on Orchard) and Projective Space, a coworking space that has the third floor.

 UPDATED 6/28/2013 Massey Knakal has now officially listed the property – asking price $32 million:

314-320 Grand Street (Aka 72 Allen Street & 71 Orchard Street), is one of the most architecturally significant and prominent buildings in the Lower East Side. The building is a 4-story commercial building that stretches over 87’ across the entire northerly block-front of Grand Street between Allen and Orchard Streets. The property benefits from an incredible amount of both pedestrian and automobile traffic considering it is positioned at the corner of one of the neighborhood’s busiest streets. Rarely do block fronts become available, especially ones like 314-320 Grand which are in the most desirable downtown locations. The property is the best of both worlds in that it benefits from stable, long term retail income from TD Bank (Credit Rating of A1 by Moodys) and Bank of America (Credit Rating Baa2 by Moodys), while having loft office space having significant long term upside. The rents at 314 Grand Street are substantially below market. Although the TD Bank lease is new, it will only rise to $88/SF once its reduced rental period burns off in about two years. This is almost half of what some of the other stores nearby on Orchard Street are asking; meanwhile retail corners on Delancey are achieve well into the $100s/SF. Finally, the office space is only $24-29/SF without a loss factor. If a market rate loss factor of 27% was applied, these floors could rent for upwards of 8,750 SF, meaning that these rents are truly only in the low $20s per square foot when compared to their comp set. In all, the long term income growth potential at this property is incredibly unusual.