- As part of our retail value-add strategy, we acquired this 40,079 sf retail condominium of ground floor and basement space for $48 million. The property, which was 75% vacant on acquisition, offered a large amount of ground floor space with entrances on three sides, including a long stretch of Fifth Avenue frontage, allowing for one large or a few smaller users.
- A huge benefit was the direct frontage and unencumbered views along the south side of the property onto Madison Square Park. Madison Square Park is a very grand 6.2-acre New York city park that had become somewhat neglected. Notable buildings around the park include the Flatiron Building, the Toy Building, the New York Life building, the New York Merchandise Mart, the Appellate Division Courthouse, the splendid MetLife Tower and One Madison, a 50-story condominium tower.
- We saw that this location on Fifth Avenue was undergoing transformation to high end residential, restaurants, and lifestyle retail. The Italian themed restaurant/grocery store Eataly was to open its first New York location on the west side of the park and chef Danny Meyer had opened 11 Madison on the east side of the park. New York Life, MetLife and Credit Suisse all had very significant offices around the park.
- Our space was in just as grand a building – the Brunswick Building – known locally as the “Gift Building” – and we felt its very prominent location on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Madison Square Park, with many subway options, would attract good tenant demand.
- We executed leases with:
- 24 Hour Fitness – 25,681 sf including all the basement space
- JP Morgan Chase – 6,304 sf
- US Post Office – 5,665 sf.
- We sold this property for $78.5 million to an institutional investor.
- Partner equity was provided by a Family Office – debt from Wells Fargo Bank.
Project Summary
