Thor unloads troubled 470 Broadway to Sternlicht’s LNR

Joe Sitt’s firm sells the retail property for $25M in lieu of foreclosure

Thor Equities’ Joe Sitt with 470 Broadway (Thor Equities)
Thor Equities’ Joe Sitt with 470 Broadway (Thor Equities)

Joe Sitt’s Thor Equities has sold its retail property at 470 Broadway in Soho, avoiding foreclosure.

The real estate firm unloaded the 6,600-square-foot building to special servicer LNR Partners for $25.4 million, according to city property records filed Wednesday. LNR is the special servicing arm of Barry Sternlicht’s Miami-based Starwood Property Trust.

Thor chose to sell the property “in lieu of foreclosure,” according to the deed. The firm acquired the retail building in October 2007 for $15.5 million.

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The special servicer on a defaulted loan secured by the 470 Broadway property filed to foreclose on the note last year, citing $22.9 million owed by Thor. The debt consisted of $18 million in unpaid principal, $2.6 million in unpaid interest and $2.3 million in protective advances.

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The building was behind on $17.5 million in CMBS debt that had been delinquent since 2020, when management was assigned to a special servicer. Thor took out a $20.5 million loan on the property in July 2012.

Issues at 470 Broadway surfaced last year when Trepp reported the value of the property had plummeted from $29.2 million to $5.6 million in the past decade. The value was cut in half from an appraisal of $11.2 million in 2020.

The shoe retailer Aldo had a two-floor lease, which was set to expire next October. The company paid $296 per square foot in 2019, equivalent to almost $2 million in annual rent.

But Aldo filed for bankruptcy in 2020 after having defaulted on rent at 470 Broadway, according to Trepp. The store has since closed.