Ponte Gadea, whose billionaire owner Amancio Ortega also owns luxury retailer Zara, dropped $145 million on the 19th-century cast iron office building at 490 Broadway in Soho.
The five-story, 42,000-square-foot structure was completed in 1857. It was designed by architect John Gaynor as an E.V. Haughwout & Co. store, and was also home to the first Otis hydraulic elevator, the New York Post reported.
Ortega, a Spanish businessman, who also owns the Inditex fashion group, is one of the richest people in the world, according to Forbes, and spent four hours as the very richest in October 2015.
Eastil’s Adam Spies, Douglas Harmon, Kevin Donner, Shannon Ching and Brett Siegel marketed the building on behalf of its longtime family owners, Train City Ltd, according to public records.
The Corcoran group leases 12,000 square feet at the building.
In September, Ortega bought an entire city block in Miami Beach for $370 million, the second largest property deal ever in Miami-Dade. [NYP] – Ariel Stulberg