Harry Macklowe finalizes $70M purchase of Lenox Hill building

Developer Harry Macklowe closed this afternoon on the $70 million acquisition
of a 34-unit rental apartment building at 150 East 72nd Street that his Macklowe
Properties expects to convert to condominiums.

Macklowe financed the Lenox Hill purchase and anticipated rehabilitation of the
72,000-square-foot, pre-war building through a total of $120 million in equity
and debt, according to a statement from Macklowe’s exclusive advisor on the
transaction, Howard Michaels, chairman of investment banking firm Carlton
Group.

A New York-based balance sheet lender provided a $90 million first mortgage,
and Macklowe and a high net worth family provided $30 million in equity, the
statement said. Neither was identified. On Tuesday, the New York Post reported that the deal would close this week.

Macklowe, who lost billions of dollars in office properties during the recession,
has recovered his footing and is involved in the development of the Drake Hotel site and is expected to acquire 737
Park Avenue and convert that to condos.

Macklowe did not respond to a request for comment. Michaels declined to
comment beyond the statement.

In April, the Post reported the developer was planning to buy the
property.

Currently eight units are rent-regulated, including residential broker Alice Mason’s eight-room
spread, where she says she pays just under $2,000 per month. The other 22
units are free market, with the most recent rents on Streeteasy.com from 2010
showing two-bedrooms range between $8,500 and $9,300 per month.