Aby Rosen’s RFR puts 275 Madison Ave. on the market

Landmarked 44-story office tower could sell for north of $270M

From left: 275 Madison Avenue in Midtown and Aby Rosen
From left: 275 Madison Avenue in Midtown and Aby Rosen

In the latest in a string of major asset sales, Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs’ RFR Holding put a landmarked 44-story Midtown office tower at 275 Madison Avenue on the market last week, according to materials obtained by The Real Deal.

Sources said the 336,000-square-foot Art Deco property at East 40th Street is expected to sell for north of $270 million, or about $800 per square foot.

Almost half of the tower’s leased office space is set to expire over the next five years, an offering memorandum shows. The anchor tenant is Cushman & Wakefield, formerly Massey Knakal Realty Services, which lays claim to more than 40,000 square feet. Average office asking rents are in the $60s per square foot.

The ground-floor retail component houses Dig Inn and a vacant 4,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Food Merchants Café. That space is now available, with asking rent exceeding $400 per square foot, the memo shows.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

A JLL team led by Richard Baxter, Yoron Cohen and Glenn Tolchin is marketing the tower, which was constructed in 1931. RFR declined to comment.

RFR acquired a 98-year lease on the Class A office building for $42 million in 1998 and then the fee interest for $22.8 million in 2004, property records show. In 2009, it was designated a New York City landmark.

The building’s alternate addresses are 22-26 East 40th Street and 273-277 Madison Avenue.

RFR this month sold the 11 Howard Hotel in Soho to German asset manager Commerz Real for $170 million shortly after it opened its doors. Last year, the firm sold an office building at 757 Third Avenue for $360 million; a retail co-op at 85 Fifth Avenue for $86 million; and an office tower in Frankfurt, Germany, for $510 million. It is also still looking to sell the Paramount Hotel at 235 West 46th Street, which it bought for $275 million in 2011.