Harbor Group International scooped up a retail condo at 445 Fifth Avenue for $68 million from Thor Equities.
The 20,000-square-foot space, located between 39th and 40th streets and facing the public library’s Stephen L. Schwarzman Building, houses jewelry retailer Charming Charlie under a lease signed in late 2013.
Behind the story:
JLL’s Richard Baxter brokered the deal.
Thor had paid $32.5 million for the condo in 2011, and continues to own several retail properties in the immediate neighborhood, including 564-2, 530 and 520 Fifth Avenue. The stretch of Fifth Avenue, blocks from Grand Central Station, is home to a number of major retailers, including Zara, Lord & Taylor and Barbour.
“We continue to believe strongly in the Fifth Avenue corridor,” Thor’s CEO Joseph Sitt said in a statement. “However, we felt the time was right to sell this property, after successfully implementing our business plan of improving a prime retail location and securing a nationally recognized tenant.”
It’s not the first time Harbor Group International, a Virginia-based firm, and the private equity giant have partnered on a deal. In 2014, Thor purchased a three-building portfolio from Samson Management and flipped one of the buildings, 24 West 40th Street, to Harbor Group for $91 million, netting Thor between $5 million to $10 million, The Real Deal reported.
Harbor is reportedly looking to unload a 45 percent stake in its downtown office tower 55 Broadway. In June, it bought a pair of contiguous retail properties in Flatbush for $22 million.