Newly listed office building sets price record

An office building on West 54th Street is hitting the market at just less than $4,000 per square foot, the most expensive asking price ever for an office property, according to the Wall Street Journal. The building is a Beaux-Arts mansion at 7 West 54th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, that was built more than a century ago as the home of Philip Lehman, the former head of Lehman Brothers.

An investment group led by hedge fund Zimmer Lucas Capital bought the 25-foot-wide townhouse for $13 million in 2005. It used the building as its headquarters for 30 employees and spent millions restoring the facade and redesigning the interior with the help of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The owners extended the house in the rear, added a rooftop structure with a retractable roof, installed a swipe-card security system and a high-speed data line and included trading-floor facilities.

Now, they’ve put the 16,676-square-foot building on the market for $65 million with Paula Del Nunzio of Brown Harris Stevens, who said the listing “starts at museum quality and goes far behind.” She envisioned a buyer using it as a headquarters with a residence upstairs.

The record price for a large office building is less than $1,600 per square-foot, brokers told the Journal. [WSJ]