Thor Equities has made another grab along Eighth Avenue, paying more than $12 million for a retail condominium between 45th and 46th streets.
The two-story, 7,000-square-foot retail property at 725 Eighth Avenue includes a basement, ground floor, second level and two mezzanines.
The seller, 725 Eighth Avenue Realty, owned the building for more than a decade before putting it on the market for $13 million.
The building’s current tenant DVD Depot, which has sold adult films from the spot for more than ten years, signifies the area’s changing face. Seedy video show and fast food outlets around the neighborhood are increasingly giving way to trendy, upscale tenants.
“Eighth Avenue is a very funny street,” Aaron Gavios, chief executive of Square Foot Realty, which represented 725 Eighth Avenue Realty in the building’s sale, told Crain’s. “Porn stores are on their way out and almost gone. Spaces are getting to be priced higher and higher.”
Previously, Joe Sitt’s Thor spent $65 million on the retail space at The Milford Plaza Hotel at 700 Eighth Avenue.
A spokesperson for Thor declined to comment to Crain’s. [Crain’s] — Julie Strickland