SL Green sells 590 Fifth Avenue for $103M

One year after gaining control of 590 Fifth Avenue, SL Green has sold the Midtown office building for $103 million.

The real estate investment trust on Thursday announced the sale, which valued the building at $1,000 per square foot. The office and retail building located between 47th and 48th streets is 103,000-square-feet and 19 stories.

Crain’s reports the buyer is the Hematian family, who are behind the Effy Jewelry company. Albert Sultan and Morris Sabbagh of Kassin Sabbagh Realty brokered the deal on behalf of the buyer.

Joe Sitt’s Thor Equities — the building’s previous owner — reportedly tried to reposition the building’s store space as a flagship retail opportunity, but proved unsuccessful. In August 2020, SL Green moved to foreclose  on the property after the developer defaulted on a $25 million mezzanine note.

In October 2020, SL Green held a UCC foreclosure on the equity interests and took control of the property. The transfer of the property meant the landlord would have to take over payments on the building’s $83 million senior mortgage.

In the weeks before the sale of the office property, SL Green picked up a few stakes in nearby Midtown properties. The landlord recently spent $121 million to acquire a stake in the 46-story Times Square building at 1601 Broadway, which houses the new Krispy Kreme flagship, a Crowne Plaza hotel and approximately 230,000 square feet of office space.

SL Green also recently gained control of another building, Ashkenazy Acquisition’s 690 Madison Avenue. The landlord paid transfer taxes on about $74 million, under 65 percent of what Ashkenazy paid for the property in 2015.

The Hematian family is similarly familiar with making mega real estate deals in the city. In 2019, the family agreed to purchase a Midtown office building from Isaac Chetrit for $92 million. The deal for 145 West 45th Street valued the property at more than $1,000 per square foot. The property previously traded hands for $55 million in 2015 from Thor Equities to Chetrit’s AB & Sons.

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