Mount Sinai buys its space at the Mobil Building for $111M

Hospital closes on seller-financed deal for commercial condos

The base of the Mobil Building at 150 East 42nd Street, where Mount Sinai has about 450,000 square feet
The base of the Mobil Building at 150 East 42nd Street, where Mount Sinai has about 450,000 square feet

UPDATED, 2:10 p.m., September 3: Mount Sinai Medical Center bought seven commercial condominiums at the base of the Mobil Building for $110.6 million, according to property records filed with the city today. The Goelet family, one of the city’s oldest landlords and the owner of the fee position in the building, along with Hiro Real Estate, which owned the leasehold, provided the financing for the deal.

On May 20, the Goelet family and Hiro — through an entity listed as 150 HG Venture — converted the 42-story, 1.8 million-square-foot tower, located at 150 East 42nd Street, into condominiums. That same day, the entity signed a contract to sell the lower office floors condos — consisting of about 450,000 square feet — to the hospital. The deal was structured as a leasehold condominium interest so that Mount Sinai, a nonprofit, could avail of significant property tax benefits, a source familiar with the transaction told The Real Deal.

Mount Sinai took out a $110 million seller’s mortgage from 150 HG Venture on August 8, and the sale closed on the same day, according to property records. Mount Sinai, which merged with Continuum last year, is one of the city’s biggest medical groups. Representatives for the company couldn’t be reached for comment.

The deal gives Mount Sinai just over 26 percent of a common interest in the property. In March, Crain’s first reported that the hospital was taking the 450,000 square feet and would set up shop in space formerly occupied by Pfizer.

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A Cushman & Wakefield team of Josh Kuriloff, Jonathan Serko, Barry Zeller, Michael Rotchford and David Heller represented Mount Sinai in the condo purchase, while CBRE’s Scott Gottlieb represented 150 HG Venture.

Real estate investors David Werner and Mark Karasick went into contract for the building’s leasehold position for more than $900 million in April, purchasing it from Hiro, which is an entity controlled by the Honzawa brothers of Japan. Late last month, Werner and Karasick secured a $700 million loan to complete their acquisition of the leasehold, as TRD reported. It remains unclear if the new owners of the leasehold are involved in the Mount Sinai deal.

(Adam Pincus contributed reporting)