The Sprint Store at 169 East 86h Street,
   Manhattan, in The Gotham retail condo.

Score another milestone for Wien & Malkin's retail condo investment program.

The Gotham retail condo, in the heart of Manhattan's Upper East Side, has achieved another record rent for the 86th Street corridor with the five-year early renewal of Sprint Nextel's lease at East 86th Street and Third Avenue.

The new rent, at $400 per square foot, represents a 74% increase over the previous rent, which also was a record. It makes The Gotham the first retail space on 86th Street to reach the $400-per-foot level.

The Gotham retail condo is a 56,250-square-foot property acquired by a Wien & Malkin-led partnership in 1999 in a Section 1031 tax-deferred exchange transaction. It is one of several Manhattan retail condos purchased in a program targeting retail property in vibrant 24/7 "destination" neighborhoods.

Sprint occupies a 3,173-square-foot store on the north side of East 86th Street, just off the corner of Third Avenue, at one of the Upper East Side's most heavily trafficked intersections for both pedestrians and vehicles. Two major retail developments are underway on the south side of East 86th Street, between Second and Third Avenues, and Third and Lexington.

"As a further indication of the strength of the East 86th Street submarket, when we approached Sprint well in advance of the expiration, we found them more than willing to negotiate early and lock in current rates for that submarket," says Fred C. Posniak, Senior Vice President of W&M Properties, the acquisition, management and leasing arm of the Malkin family. "The original lease had a year to go when we signed the new deal."

A newly available space at 1542 Third Avenue (another part of the Gotham) is also expected to command an improved rent. The space, which is currently occupied by The Bombay Company, contains 4,775 square feet, including 60 feet of frontage on Third Avenue and 80 feet of frontage on 87th Street, plus a 1,729-square-foot basement.

Mr. Posniak notes that Wien & Malkin selected its Manhattan retail condo investments with great care. "Working with very select criteria, we identified several co-op and condo residential buildings whose ownerships were interested in selling the retail portions of their property on terms that made good financial sense for us," he says. "These properties have great locations but weren't achieving their full retail potential.

"We have always chosen our New York City locations well," the W&M executive comments, "and now we are doing the same thing with our suburban retail acquisitions."