NYC Buildings For Sale
A Flatiron District office building will hit the foreclosure auction block next month with an outstanding lien of close to $41 million, following the issuance of a foreclosure judgment against the property in September. The building, at 119 West 25th Street, had been owned by Brooklyn-based investors Miriam and Michael Chan before it was placed in receivership. The duo purchased the building for $34 million via an LLC in 2006. The 11-story building, which totals 113,000 square feet and has 15,000 square feet of retail, will hit the block November 17.A parking lot in the Chelsea area, ripe for redevelopment, is on the block. It is an 11,850-square-foot parcel at 132-142 West 27th Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues. Zoning allows up to 118,500 square feet of hotel or light manufacturing properties.
New York Buildings sold
The Far West Side, above 50th Street, has been somewhat overlooked by investors, but Taconic Investment Partners is hoping on its success with the $110 million acquisition of an office building at 619 West 54th Street. The 326,000-square-foot deal between Taconic and seller KBS Realty Advisors seems to have closed.The real estate investment trust SL Green has purchased two office properties from Atlas Capital Group in an effort to expand its presence in the in Midtown South submarket. The firm paid $173 million, or $648 per square foot, for the two properties, which are located at 635 Sixth Avenue and 641 Sixth Avenue. The building at 635 Sixth Avenue totals 104,000 square feet and was previously occupied by Apex Technical School, while 641 Sixth Avenue has a total of 163,000 square feet and boasts tenants such as Google.
Great Eagle Group has made a deal to purchase the Setai Fifth Avenue hotel from 400 Fifth Realty for $229 million. As of January 2013, the 214-room hotel will become the Langham Place; Langham Hospitality Group is a subsidiary of Great Eagle Group. Langham will manage only the hotel portion of the mixed-use building, while floors 31-60 will remain one- to six-bedroom condos.
Rockpoint Group, a private equity firm, in partnership with a Goldman Sachs real estate fund and Highgate Holdings, purchased the Manhattan hotel at 790 Seventh Avenue at West 51st Street for $275 million in cash. The 665-key hotel will be operated by Highgate Holdings. The sale is part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ transition into an “asset-light model,” and has been in the works for two years, since the Sheraton flag was removed as the company reevaluated its assets.
Joseph Sitt’s Thor Equities partnered with an affiliate of Jenel Management to purchase 494 Broadway, the 9,200-square-foot office and retail building between Broome and Spring streets for $22 million. Sitt’s company signed a contract to buy the four-story building in February, and closed on the deal September 7th.
General Theological Center’s Desmond Tutu Conference Center at 180 10th Avenue in Chelsea has been sold to the Brodsky Organization for $16 million. The developer bought the property under the name “The Highline Hotel LLC.” The flexible office suites company WeWork and the Boston-based investment firm AEW Capital Management are in contract to pay Extell Development $33.5 million for a long-term leasehold at 175 Varick Street in Hudson Square. WeWork and AEW signed the contract to buy the long-term lease in August and the deal is expected to close in November.
Development paid $14.65 million for a once-stalled Chelsea development site two blocks from the Meatpacking District. The price is approximately twice the $7.5 million the seller paid to purchase the defaulted note about a year and a half earlier. Alfa bought the site at 245 West 14th Street, between Eighth and Ninth avenues, from an investment group led by developer Offir Naim.
A 24,800-square-foot retail condominium at the St. Regis hotel has traded for $375 million, more than triple what it last sold for in 2009. Swiss luxury retailer, Richemont, bought the space from a partnership that includes Crown Acquisitions, the Feil Organization and Goldman Properties. The price represents a value of more than $15,000 per square foot.
A partnership has agreed to purchase a 49.5 percent equity interest in 521 Fifth Avenue for $72 million. They had been attempting to sell equity in the 39-story office tower since earlier this year when it hired a firm to help market the building. The joint venture, known as Plaza Global Real Estate Partners, is expected to close the deal by the end of the year. SL Green is planning to refinance its existing $150 million mortgage with United Overseas Bank with a new $170 million mortgage.
