Jacob Chetrit is buying 220 East 42nd Street from SL Green Realty for $815 million.
SL Green announced Tuesday that the property went into contract, but did not identify the buyer. The deal should close in the first quarter of 2020, according to SL Green.
Sources told The Real Deal that Chetrit is the buyer. SL Green and the team at Cushman & Wakefield marketing the property had given pricing guidance of about $900 million. Foreign sovereign-wealth funds and domestic core-plus/value-add investors were among the bidders.
Representatives for Chetrit and SL Green could not be immediately reached for comment. Commercial Observer first reported the identity of the buyer.
The 37-story property, also known as the News Building, is located at the corner of 42nd Street and Second Avenue. It was formerly the headquarters for the New York Daily News and was famously included in the 1978 “Superman” movie as the Daily Planet headquarters. SL Green bought the property in 2003 for $265 million.
The building is 97 percent occupied, with tenants including the United Nations, WPIX and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. Average rents are $57 per square foot.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Adam Spies and Doug Harmon brokered the sale. Iron Hound Management’s Robert Verrone is negotiating the debt for Chetrit.
SL Green had been considering trying to sell the Art Deco building since the beginning of the year and officially put the building on the market over the summer.