Walker’s bar location in Tribeca sells for $8M

Robert Knakal of Massey Knakal Realty Services represented the sellers of the Walker’s bar location in Tribeca

Two adjacent 19th century buildings in Tribeca that are home to the local restaurant and bar favorite Walker’s were sold last week for $8.1 million by their long-term owners, a broker on the sale told The Real Deal.

The five-story buildings in the Tribeca West Historic District were built about a decade apart. The first, at 16 North Moore Street, at Varick Street, was completed in 1880 while 18 North Moore Street was finished in 1894, according to a report on the neighborhood by the city Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The sale price was $356 per square foot, based on the combined 15,263 square feet in the buildings plus the 7,471 square feet in development rights. The two buildings have a total of 18 apartments, half of which are free market, and the restaurant lease runs until 2019.

Walker’s, best known for its old-style bar, has been at 16 North Moore Street for about 22 years, an employee of the restaurant said, and recently expanded into 18 North Moore Street.

There are no plans for the restaurant to move, said Robert Knakal, chairman of Massey Knakal Realty Services. Massey Knakal represented the sellers, and there was no buyer’s broker, he said, in the sale last Thursday.

Knakal would not identify the sellers, but city records indicate they are Citi-Urban Management and Jonis Realty Management, both of Great Neck.

Knakal described the buyer, whom he also would not identify, as a local investment family, which bought the buildings as part of a 1031 exchange. The exchange allows a buyer to defer taxes by exchanging one property for another.

“The price per foot is pretty healthy,” Knakal said. He added that there were dozens of bidders including hedge funds and private equity firms.

Citi-Urban and Jonis Realty did not return a call for comment.