Chinese company pays New York state $5.9 million for FiDi commercial condo

New York State sold a commercial condominium in the Financial District to SCPG Property, a Chinese publishing group, the New York Observer reported. SCPG paid $5.9 million for the 18,200-square-foot space.

The state, through the Empire State Development Corp., purchased seven floors in the building at 125 Maiden Lane in 2006 with the intention of relocating its headquarters and other government offices to the site.

However, the ESDC switched courses and began selling off the units individually, finding buyers in the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Planned Parenthood and the Guttmacher Institute.

In addition to non-profit groups, which can write off property taxes, foreign buyers are frequent investors in commercial condos, explained Michael Rudder, founder of Rudder Property Group, who arranged the sale.

“There is a cultural preference to own among many foreign groups,” Rudder told the Observer. “Especially buyers from Asia, where owning your own space is a more common type of arrangement for commercial tenants.”

Time Equities converted the 340,000-square-foot building to commercial condos. [NYO] — Leigh Kamping-Carder