Sitt’s Thor Equities, Moinian pay $162M for Goldman’s 245 Fifth Avenue

From left: Joseph Moinian, 245 Fifth Avenue and Joseph Sitt

Joseph Sitt’s Thor Equities and developer Joseph Moinian have completed the long-awaited deal to buy out Goldman Sachs at 245 Fifth Avenue for $162 million.

The property had been up for sale since January, when Moinian and his previous venture partner, Goldman Sachs Whitehall Funds, decided to put the building up for sale through Eastdil Secured.

The property, near 28th Street, was originally purchased for $190 million, or $620 a square foot, at the height of the market in 2007. 

But, when the capital markets crashed in 2008, the developers were unable to achieve the rent increases they planned.
Thor came into the deal and invested the new equity and absorbed the property’s existing debt, in return for a piece of the action.

Analysts say when the market crashed, Moinian and Whitehall were forced to offer rent concessions to maintain tenants in the building. For example, when Beth Israel Medical Center renewed its lease for 12 years, the deal included a year’s worth of rent concessions, which just ended.

Thor gets a good quality property that is well leased for the decent price of a little more than $500 a square foot without having to put up much cash, since they assumed the $140 million loan as part of the deal,” said Ben Thypin, senior market analyst at Real Capital Analytics.

Neither Moinian nor Thor Equities officials were available for comment.