Ross moves to snatch Moinian’s 1775 Broadway for city’s first Nordstrom

September 08, 2010 09:30AM

Stephen Ross is angling to take hold of Joseph Moinian’s 1775 Broadway, the distressed, 26-story office tower that once housed Newsweek magazine, and turn it into the city’s first Nordstrom department store, sources told the Wall Street Journal. Moinian has been struggling to hold onto the building, which he renamed 3 Columbus Circle in conjunction with a roughly $100 million renovation, and was close to restructuring its $250 million mortgage before a venture led by Ross’ the Related Companies and Deutsche Bank AG purchased the debt at nearly face value and filed to foreclose last week. Related has reportedly already talked to Nordstrom, which has been seeking Manhattan space for years, about its plan to foreclose on the property, which is currently just 16 percent occupied. The company apparently told the retailer that it would demolish the existing building and build a new tower on the site, which would house the department store and, possibly, apartments above it. Though Moinian could still stave off foreclosure by paying off the mortgage or seeking bankruptcy protection, Related is said to already be looking to hire architects to design its new building. [WSJ]

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