Pension fund’s stake in Sutton Place extended-stay hotel valued at $106M

CalSTRS owns 91% of AKA Sutton, records show

330 East 56th Street
330 East 56th Street

UPDATED, Friday, Oct. 20 at 3:13 p.m. A California-based pension fund’s stake in AKA Sutton Place, a 17-story extended stay luxury hotel-condominium, is valued at $106.2 million, according to city Department of Finance records recorded Thursday.

CalSTRS, the state’s teacher retirement fund manager, owns a 91 percent stake in the building at 330 East 56th Street, according to Department of Finance documents. On Thursday, a deed on the property was transferred from investment firm BlackRock to CalSTRS. But a representative for BlackRock said the asset manager simply manages the portfolio that holds the property, and it does not own any portion of 330 East 56th Street. A representative said the deed transfer was an accounting update.

Korman Communities, which operates the AKA brand, is also a part owner in the building, which was last purchased in 2006 for $83.5 million, property records show.

In 2015, Korman announced plans to switch to selling condos both at Aka Sutton Place and AKA United Nations, at 234 East 46th Street. However, the building at 330 East 56th Street has remained as a “luxury extended stay,” according to the company website. It is listed as a condo on StreetEasy, but there are no active sales.

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The AKA United Nations was set to be Manhattan’s first crowdfunded tower. But last year, Prodigy Network — which had bought its stake from BlackRock in 2014 — announced it would remain as an extended stay hotel.

Representatives for CalSTRS and Korman could not be immediately reached for comment.

Correction: A prior version of this story reported that CalSTRS had bought a 91 percent stake in AKA Sutton for $106 million from BlackRock; a BlackRock representative said CAlSTRS had already owned the property and BlackRock managed the portfolio the property was held in. The deed transfer was made for tax purposes, the BlackRock rep said.