Thor in contract to sell 693 Fifth Avenue for $525M

Joe Sitt’s Thor Equities is in contract to sell an office-and-retail building at 693 Fifth Avenue for $525 million.

The deal would be a sizable return on the $142 million that the retail landlord paid six years ago for the 105,422-square-foot property, located between East 54th and East 55th streets in Midtown.

While the buyer was not disclosed, sources told the Commercial Observer that it is a non-commercial developer.

Valentino is the largest tenant at the building, having taken 19,600 square feet in 2013 at a price of $3,000 per square foot. London-based art gallery Carpenters Workshop Gallery also took 5,300 square feet at 693 Fifth Avenue last summer, while hair salon Louis Licari has more than 9,000 square feet of retail and office space at the property.

Thor is also looking to sell 590 and 597 Fifth Avenue as well as the retail portion of 530 Fifth Avenue, which it co-owns with General Growth Properties.

The building is located a block north of Thor and partner GGP’s 685 Fifth Avenue. Turkish jewelry company the Gulaylar Group is in contract to acquire that building’s 90,000-square-foot office portion, as The Real Deal reported last week, after a previous deal with developer Michael Shvo fell through. [CO] – Rey Mashayekhi