New York Buildings sold
Newly landmarked 70 Pine sells for $205M to Nathan Berman's Metro Loft Management, or $186 per square foot,. Metro signed on to buy the 1.1 million-square-foot tower, the fifth tallest in the city at 66 stories, from Kumho Investment Bank of South Korea. Kumho previously purchased the building, along with 72/74 Wall Street, from AIG for $150 million..The Henry T. Sloane mansion at 18 East 68th Street, between Madison and Fifth avenues, sold at auction yesterday to its only bidder -- Alexander Rovt, a Ukrainian-born billionaire fertilizer magnate -- for $40 million, the amount in principal and interest owed to the first mortgage lender, Madison Realty Capital.
Developer Harry Macklowe signed a contract as the operating partner to buy the 108-unit rental apartment building at 737 Park Avenue for $255 million. The property, on the corner of 71st Street, is located on one of Manhattan's most sought-after residential blocks,, sources say he intends to convert the building to luxury condominiums. Once closed, Macklowe's acquisition will be the most expensive residential building purchased for conversion since Maurice Mann and Africa Israel bought the Apthorp for $391 million in 2007. The deal marks the return of developers doing large-scale luxury condominium conversions following the real estate downturn.
Joe Sitt's Thor Equities is in contract to purchase the Scribner Building for $108.5 million. The 12-story plus penthouse building at 597 Fifth Avenue, between 48th and 49th streets features over 12,000 square feet of retail and around 58,000 square feet of office space. The deal also encompasses the adjacent building at 3 East 48th Street and 50,000 square feet of air rights. Leading beauty retailer Sephora is the current anchor tenant in the landmarked interior.
The landmarked, 59 West 44th Street hotel has sold for the fifth time in 15 years, to Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, a MassMutual-owned investment group that paid $76 million for the 174-room property, which completed a renovation last summer. Aside from its feline mascot, the Algonquin is perhaps best known for the Round Table writers' meetings that Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and Robert Sherwood once attended their daily.
APF Properties just acquired 28 West 44th Street from SL Green, is renaming the property "The Club Row Building". Which is 367,000-square-foot. APF is also hiring two new staffers and, according to partner Kenneth Aschendorf, "we definitely plan on growing more… we're eyeing all of the properties that are on the market now."
1450 Broadway was purchase by Zar Group for $204 million, and the building may go residential under its new ownership. The 400,200-square-foot building, on the corner of 41st Street, was purchased for $121 million by Chetrit, Moinian and Minskoff in 2004. It now has a 14 percent vacancy rate, with tenants including BCBG and Iconix Brand Group. This is the first New York City office acquisition for the Manhattan-based firm formerly known as Zar City Properties.
Bethesda, Md.-based real estate investment trust LaSalle Hotel Properties has agreed to purchase the Park Central Hotel at 870 Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th streets for $405.5 million. The deal is likely to close in the third quarter of 2011. The 934-room hotel, built in 1928, is currently owned by Highgate Holdings, which will continue to operate and manage the hotel after the sale. The property is slated to undergo a $30 million to $35 million renovation next year, including upgrades to guest rooms, bathrooms, corridors and lobby.
The developers, a joint venture of Philips International and Rhodes Associates sold their 196-unit property to retirement system TIAA-CREF for $209 million.. They had spent more than 20 years assembling the prime development site and will hold onto the 48,000-square-foot retail space in the building, currently home to Trader Joe's and Duane Reade. The sale price for the rest of the building -- including its generous amenity spaces -- works out to more than $1 million per unit, or around $1,400 per square foot, which is about double that of the typical rental apartment transaction,
Gehr Development, which owns the 33-story Fairfield Inn hotel by Marriott Times Square at 330 West 40th Street, has completed an acquisition of the adjacent Four Points by Sheraton Times Square, at 326 West 40th Street, for $112 million, or approximately $460,000 per room.
The Cheshire Group bought 1327-1329 Lexington Avenue and paid $105 million for a 99-unit apartment building
Lehman Brothers has reached a deal to sell the in-default debt on 1107 Broadway to the Witkoff Group and Howard Lorber's Vector Group for about $190 million. The deal, determined at auction yesterday, comes just days after Lehman sold its majority ownership stake in 200 Fifth Avenue to JPMorgan Chase.
Hersha Hospitality Trust said it agreed to buy the stalled Hyatt Union Square hotel in Manhattan for $104.1 million, or $595,000 per key, from McSam Hotel Group. The hotel, at 132 Fourth Avenue. Philadelphia-based Hersha said it will pay $36 million in cash, cancel a $10 million mezzanine loan that it made to the seller, plus interest, and assume two mortgage loans valued at $55 million. Hersha said the deal will close once construction is completed adding that it will not assume any construction or cost overrun risk as part of the deal.
Lehman Brothers has sold its 90-plus percent stake in the former International Toy Center at 200 Fifth Avenue to JPMorgan Chase, in a deal that values the building at $700 million. An expensive interior upgrade and improving market helped lure tenants like Eataly and Tiffany & Co. to the building, instantly raising the building's profile. It's unclear whether the costly revamp sucked all potential profit from the trade.
The sale of Extell Development's 16-story, 187,060-square-foot office building at 305 East 46th Street , closed for $114.05 million. The buyer was Government Properties Income Trust, a real estate investment trust specializing in government tenants.
NYC Buildings For Sale
A Karl Fischer designed apartment building in Williamsburg is headed to public bankruptcy auction on July 7, with an opening bid of $7 million. The 12-story, 20-unit building at 480 Humboldt Street, known as SkyHigh, is currently renting units, and the most recent listing for a one-and-a-half-bedroom, one-bathroom unit was asking $2,800 per month in March.SL Green Realty and partner Jeff Sutton are selling their retail condominium at 141 Fifth Avenue, between 20th and 21st streets, in the Flatiron District. HSBC and a Cole Hahn store are currently tenants at the 20,000-square-foot storefront.
