Kaufman, AXA make $50M Midtown South buy

The Kaufman Organization has bought an office building in Midtown South for nearly $50 million.

Kaufman, along with its joint-venture partner AXA Investment Managers, closed Tuesday on the purchase of the 12-story office building at 56 West 22nd Street, the buyers told The Real Deal.

The purchase price of the all-cash deal, $48.5 million, works out to nearly $725 per square foot for the 67,000-square-foot building.

Michael Kazmierski, president of Kaufman Investments, said the buyers went into contract in February, and acknowledged the challenges of doing deals in the city now during the Covid-19 lockdown.

“We went into contract in February, and obviously things have changed since then,” he said. “We still remain optimistic on this Midtown South micromarket.”

A JLL team of Bob Knakal,  Jon Hageman, Pat Yannotta and Brock Emmetsberger marketed the property on behalf of the seller, members of the Blum family.

Kazmierski said the building, constructed in 1907, is about 55 percent occupied and will undergo capital improvements to the storefronts and tenant areas.

This is the second acquisition in fewer than four months on which Kaufman has teamed with AXA Investment, the investment arm of French multinational insurance firm AXA.

The partners in late December bought an office building nearby at 40 West 25th Street from Unizo Holdings for $120 million.

Contact Rich Bockmann at rb@therealdeal.com or 908-415-5229.