Zegen captures Brooklyn Whale Building in $82.5M deal

Deal is Madison Realty's second office purchase in borough

Josh Zegen and 14 53rd Street in Brooklyn
Josh Zegen and 14 53rd Street in Brooklyn

There will be no swabbing of the decks at 14 53rd Street, the behemoth office Sunset Park building purchased by Madison Realty Capital for a leviathan $82.5 million.

Josh Zegen’s investment firm bought the seven-story, 400,000-square-foot industrial building –– known as the “Brooklyn Whale Building” for being the one-time home of the Whale Oil petroleum company –– from real estate investor Harry Skydell, Crain’s reported.

Skydell pumped about $8 million into renovating the building and Madison Realty plans to make millions more in improvements.

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The property sits about a mile south of Industry City in Sunset Park.

The move signals a doubling down on the Brooklyn office market for Madison Realty. Madison dipped into Brooklyn office market earlier this year, spending $50 million to purchase the 215,000-square-foot property at 29 Ryerson Street, near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. – Rich Bockmann