June 2017 New York Buildings For Sale

New York Buildings Sold:

Kobe Bussan, which operates a chain of supermarkets in Japan, sold two empty lots at 439-443 West 54th Street in Hell’s Kitchen. The buying entity is Yaus Special Clinton District LLC.

WanXin Media purchased the Midtown office building and vacant lot at 7-15 West 44th Street for $68 million. WanXin plans to develop a boutique luxury hotel and Chinese cultural center which has 90,000 buildable square feet. If approved, the hotel will include 96 rooms and restaurant space in a 19-story building, seven stories taller and nearly 40,000 square feet larger than the existing building at the time. The seller, 7 West 44th St. Realty LLC, had purchased the property at 15 West 44th Street for $29 million in 2013.

Chinese conglomerate HNA Group closed on its $2.21 billion purchase of 245 Park Avenue, or $1,227 per square foot. The deal marks one of the biggest prices ever paid for a Manhattan office tower and is an example of how Chinese money continues to play a significant role in the New York market despite increased capital controls at home.

A subsidiary of state-run Chinese construction giant China State Construction Engineering Corporation is in contract to buy a majority stake in at 537 Greenwich Street and 110 Charlton Street, a Hudson Square development site. The deal would value the site north of $140 million, or $625 per buildable square foot. The site offers 229,000 buildable square feet.

A commercial condo at the Bazzini Building located at 339 Greenwich Street and 21 Jay Street sold for $11.7 million to Vornado Realty Trust. The six-story landmarked building was home to Bazzini Nuts from the time it was built in 1886 until 1997. The building is located at the corner of Greenwich and Jay streets.

A development site at 36 West 38th Street in 2013 which went to auction with a starting price of $19.3 million, sold for $19.25 million to Joginder Sharma. Gemini Real Estate Advisors bought the 4,345-square-foot lot and plans to build a 114-key hotel on the site.

Atalaya Capital Management picked up the former 21st Precinct station house at 327 East 22nd Street in Gramercy Park for $14.7 million. The seller, Suzuki Capital, bought the one-story building for $11 million in 2014.

Smile Train bought three commercial condos at 633 Third Avenue for $16.75 million. The seller, Marcus & Pollack LLP, bought the ninth floor of the Midtown East building for $27 million in 2015, and divided the 44,779-square-foot space into multiple units. Smile Train took 19,744 square feet, spending $847 per square foot; Marcus & Pollack retained 13,000 square feet, and the remaining space is divided into two additional offices which were sold at $900 and $922 per square foot.

Savanna is in contract to buy 31 West 27th Street a 144,000-square-foot Midtown South office building from Westbrook Partners for $126 million, or $875 per square foot.

Buildings For Sale:

A partnership led by BlackRock is gauging buyer interest in its office building at 600 Third Avenue. BlackRock has a 95% stake in the building, and L&L Holding Company owns the remainder. The building encompasses 575,000 square feet, and is worth $700 per square foot, or $403 million.

Ashkenazy Acquisition is looking to sell the 7,850 square foot 690 Madison Avenue it bought in 2015 for $115.2 million. The asking price may be around $135 million, which works out to $17,200 per square foot.

A group of Greek hedge funders is putting the Fine Arts Building in Midtown on the market. The seven-story, 58,000-square-foot property at 232 East 59th Street is home to 12 showrooms for mainly architecture and design firms, with floor plates averaging 8,600 square feet. It is expected to sell for $60 million, or close to $1,000 per square foot. Asking rents average $75 per square foot. The building is 94% occupied. The building was acquired for $34 million in 2013 from the Battaglia family.

Steve Witkoff and the U.S. Justice Department are moving forward with the sale of the Park Lane Hotel that cuts out majority owner Jho Low. Witkoff and Mubadala Development Corp., bought a portion of Low’s stake, and they will split the proceeds of the sale, while the government will take Low’s share. The sellers are hoping for bids to exceed $1 billion.

Standard International is putting a 338-room Standard High Line up for sale after paying $400 million three years ago. The 18-story property at 848 Washington Street in the Meatpacking District.

Bank of China is looking to sell its longtime U.S. headquarters at 410-416 Madison Avenue. The seven-story building is located at the corner of East 48th Street. The building will likely be a development site. The property spans just over 58,000 square feet, but the site has about 107,500 buildable square feet.

General Growth Properties is shopping its 50% stake in retail and office building 685 Fifth Avenue, which it owns in partnership with Thor Equities. Both partners have options to buy the other’s stake in the 115,000-square-foot-building if one chooses to sell, meaning any buyer could also buy Thor Equities’ half. The property includes 25,000-square-foot of retail space, most of which is leased out to Coach. It also includes around 90,000-square-foot of office space, most of which is vacant.

A Harlem church is looking to sell its property at 58 West 135th Street to billionaire Moujan Vahdat for $10.2 million. The ground floor and cellar of the building totaling 11,000 square feet will be new church space.