Madison Capital buys bankrupt Loehmann’s leases

Investment firm pays $7.5 million: sources

2101 Broadway (Photo credit: Google)
2101 Broadway (Photo credit: Google)

The Midtown-based investment company Madison Capital purchased scores of unexpired leases formerly held by the bankrupt department store Loehmann’s, including a large lease on the Upper West Side, court records show.

Madison, headed by Richard Wagman and Joseph Jacobson, acquired the leases as part of a two-day auction held in Manhattan on Jan. 3 and 4, according to papers filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Though the price was not disclosed, industry sources said the firm paid $7.5 million for the leases, including one with 37,157 square feet in the Ansonia at 2101 Broadway at 73rd Street. That lease was valued at $5 million of the total purchase price, insiders said, in part because it has four five-year extension options.

Madison Capital declined to comment. The sale is subject to court approval, with a hearing scheduled for tomorrow.

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Madison Capital is an active retail investor. It paid $130 million last month for retail units from Westbrook Partners at 235 West 75th Street on the Upper West Side and at 301 West 53rd Street in Hell’s Kitchen. In addition, the firm is currently developing 19 East Houston Street, Between Broadway And Crosby Street in Soho, where it plans to construct a six-story office and retail building.

Loehmann’s had approximately 40 leases nationwide, including three in New York City. The most expensive annual rent payment in the city was the Ansonia lease, with an annual rent of $2.35 million. The other city leases were at 5740 Broadway in the Bronx, which had an annual rent of about $750,000 for 30,000 square feet, And 2807 East 21st Street in Sheepshead Bay, with 27,789 square feet with an annual rent of about $733,750. Loehmann’s had another lease at 101 Seventh Avenue, but Barneys has now snapped up that site.

Loehmann’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 15.