On the market

Midtown office building sets price record 

A 16,676-square-foot midtown office building hit the market last month with a $65 million price tag. That comes to just under $4,000 per square foot — the highest asking price ever for a Manhattan office property on a per-square-foot basis, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Beaux-Arts building is structurally a residential mansion, but has been used as offices for the last several years and is being marketed as such. The building, at 7 West 54th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues, is being sold by an investment group led by hedge fund Zimmer Lucas Capital that bought the property for $13 million in 2005. Paula Del Nunzio of Brown Harris Stevens has the listing. She said she envisioned a buyer using it as a company headquarters with a residence upstairs. The record price for a large office building in Manhattan is less than $1,600 per square foot, brokers told the Journal.

Sitt looks to sell Meatpacking retail for $45M

Joseph Sitt’s Thor Equities is seeking $45 million for a Meatpacking District property it bought five years ago for about half that amount, Crain’s reported. Thor commissioned Jones Lang LaSalle to find a buyer for the three-story, 15,525-square-foot building, at 446 West 14th Street, between Washington Street and 10th Avenue, which it bought for $23.4 million in 2007. While it’s unclear whether Thor will get its full asking price, the neighborhood has seen meteoric price growth in the last five years. In 2003, rents hovered around $70 per foot for retail space. But rents in the area — now a major tourist destination that’s seen an influx of high-end and name-brand stores — have skyrocketed to $500 per square foot for prime spaces. Still, sources told Crain’s the price was “no bargain.”

Manhattan multifamily portfolio on the block

A package of six mixed-use buildings on the Lower East Side and in Hell’s Kitchen is for sale with an asking price of $35 million. The five-story walk-up properties — located at 43 Clinton Street, 163, 165 and 167 Ludlow Street and 436 and 438 West 52nd Street — consist of 96 apartments and five retail stores. The prewar buildings total approximately 53,745 square feet, including 5,700 square feet of retail space. Sixty percent of the residential units are deregulated, and the rents for the regulated units are considerably below market rate, according to the listing. The buildings can be purchased as a package or individually. Michael Besen and Matthew Slonim of Besen & Associates are handling the sale.

Village conversion property for sale

A 45,032-square-foot, eight-story former Hertz garage in Greenwich Village is on the market for potential conversion into a hotel, office or residential space. The New York Post reported that the pricing is expected to exceed $600 per square foot, or more than $30 million total. Steve Hornstock, Alan Cohen and Adam Maxson of ABS Partners have the listing for the property, which is located at 12 East 13th Street, between University Place and Fifth Avenue. Many of the developers who’ve looked at the property are interested in building a residential building with four to five apartments on each 5,441-square-foot floor, according to unnamed sources cited by the Post. Public records show Darren Postel has owned the property since 2002. The price he paid is not listed.

Partially constructed LES hotel asking $28M

An unfinished Lower East Side hotel is on the block for $28 million, Crain’s reported. Massey Knakal is marketing the 16-story, 98-room Allen Street Hotel at 139–141 Orchard Street. The site can also be purchased in combination with a five-story, mixed-use building and vacant lot, located at 77–79 Rivington Street for a grand total of $35 million. “The hotel is topped out with concrete and there is steel and some electrical work and plumbing put in,” Michael DeCheser, director of sales for Massey Knakal, told Crain’s. “It’s a rare opportunity to complete a boutique hotel.” Maverick Real Estate Partners acquired the loan on the hotel at a discount after the developer defaulted on its $19 million mortgage last year.