UPDATED, 6:15 p.m., July 15: The former Santander Bank building has a pair of new owners, one of which is making its first New York City acquisition.
Bobby Zar’s ZG Capital and Jeff Krasnoff’s Rialto Capital Management signed a contract to buy the 20-story building at 45 East 53rd Street for $105 million, the New York Post reported. The purchase is expected to close within 30 days.
The 134,000-square-foot office building in Midtown East was built in 1991 and last traded hands a little less than a decade ago. Florida-based MEK Management Services bought the building from the Spanish banking giant in 2012 for $120 million before Santander leased it back.
Santander doesn’t need the space anymore. The bank is relocating its headquarters to 437 Madison Avenue, where it is subleasing about 160,000 square feet from WeWork.
Newmark’s Jordan Roeschlaub and Dustin Stolly are arranging financing, according to the Post. Ackman-Ziff’s Ross Mezzo is arranging the sale.
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Amid Santander’s departure, the Post reported the building’s new owners figure it’s a perfect time to upgrade the building. The owners plan to spend $60 million to $80 million to modernize the building, in hopes of attracting boutique financial services firms.
This is Rialto’s first acquisition in the city, according to the Post, but not its first foray into the market. The deal comes months after the firm foreclosed on the 10-story office and retail building at 33 West 46th Street in the Diamond District after the building owner’s murder-suicide. It was attempting to recover $18 million.
Zar’s ZG has more experience acquiring assets in the city. Last year, the firm went into contract to buy the largely vacant office building at 836 Broadway. The six-story building includes 81,000 square feet and formerly housed New York University.
[NYP] — Holden Walter-Warner
This story was updated to include the broker brokering the acquisition.