ASB Capital shopping Midtown office building at 400 Madison

Seller paid $139M for 22-story property in 2012

400 Madison Avenue and ASB Real Estate Investments CEO Robert Bellinger
400 Madison Avenue and ASB Real Estate Investments CEO Robert Bellinger

The real estate arm of ASB Capital Management is looking for buyers for its nearly 190,000-square-foot Madison Avenue office building in Midtown, sources told The Real Deal.

ASB Real Estate Investments, a division of the Maryland-based investment manager, is shopping around the 22-story building at 400 Madison Avenue. The building last traded in 2012 for $139.4 million, or $745 per square foot. Last month, RPW Group closed on the purchase of 275 Madison Avenue for $270 million, or $800 per square foot.

A representative for ASB was not immediately available for comment.

The company bought the office-and-retail building in 2012 for $139.4 million from developer William Macklowe [TRDataCustom], whose father Harry acquired it through a bankruptcy proceeding in 1998 and then renovated it.

The father-and-son team split in 2010 and the younger Macklowe took 400 Madison and the 127,000-square-foot building at 610 Broadway to form William Macklowe Company.

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The narrow building at 400 Madison Avenue stretches just 45 feet deep, but fronts along the entire length of Madison between East 47th and 48th streets. The floor plates are about 8,500 square feet apiece, with tenants like staffing agency the Peak Organization and corporate trust firm Law Debenture Trust Company of New York taking some of the largest spaces.

The building is 89 percent occupied, according to CoStar. Asking rents in the Grand Central submarket averaged $75 per square foot during the second quarter of the year, according to CBRE.

Eastdil Secured’s Adam Spies and Doug Harmon, who are marketing the property, declined to comment.

In June, ASB entered contract to buy the 14,600-square-foot Soho retail property home to Dolce & Gabbana from Thor Equities for $90 million.

The company also owns a 120,000-square-foot Midtown South office building at 158 West 27th Street, and a 94,000-square-foot Noho office property at 625 Broadway.

Further up Madison, Barings Asset Management – formerly known as Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers – is looking to sell its 150,000-square-foot office-and-retail building at 551 Madison Avenue, as TRD reported Monday.